You know it’s expensive when Gucci can’t afford it.
With sky-high rents and a dazed economy, even the most luxurious retailers are having a difficult time surviving along East Hampton’s embattled commercial strip.
The iconic Italian brand, along with Brooks Brothers, Cole Haan and Calypso Home are among the retailers who have abandoned the tony village before the summer season.
With some landlords demanding rents of up to $200 a square foot — which can add up to more than $200,000 a year — maintaining a coveted East Hampton address has become increasingly tough.
Local brokers said that luxury retailers — most of which shut down once the summer hordes depart — rarely turn a profit.
“The chains want an East Hampton store just for advertising, to be able to put it on their letterhead,” said Lee Minetree, senior vice-president at Saunders Associates, a Hamptons real-estate agency.
“They were willing to lose money to do that. But with the economy down, things have changed.”
With nearly 30 shuttered storefronts dotting the desolate shopping stretch, frustrated local business owners, year-round residents and even some seasonal visitors have had enough of the high-end corporate incursion.
“It’s just depressing,” said Renee Fertig, who has owned Tennis East on Main Street for 40 years. “A few years ago, it was all mom and pops. Now these stores have taken over and they don’t even stay open. It really hurts the rest of us.”
Village stalwarts like Hamptons Cards and Gifts have vanished, while Ralph Lauren has planted three stores on one block alone.
“East Hampton used to be a quaint place,” Fertig said. “A lot of my customers from Manhattan would come here to get away. Now they say the city is just following them here.”