Season in Review: Palm Beach retailers raked it in as shoppers returned in droves
Retailers throughout Palm Beach from Worth Avenue to The Royal and The Breakers report the season was one of their best ever, if not the most robust, but they disagree about whether there was less of the “craziness” that characterized the 2021-'22 season.
Whether the frenzy is due to people fleeing other states to enjoy Palm Beach’s sunshine or the state’s pro-business climate and lower taxes, the result is Florida became the nation’s fastest-growing state in 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau said.
Frank Steinhart, president of the 120-member Worth Avenue Association, said, “Business on Worth Avenue seems to continuously be on an upward trend. It continues to increase every season. We always have loyal customers, new visitors and all the people moving to Palm Beach. The craziness and traffic this season is unparalleled.”
Steinhart, production manager of the family-owned Stubbs and Wootton, 350 Worth Ave., said the shop has been in Palm Beach for 30 years, first located on the vias, then moving to the Avenue a few years ago.
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“There is nothing like being on the Avenue. It makes a very big difference,” Steinhart said. The shop is known for its traditional English linen, velvet and needlepoint slippers, with motifs from bees to books. A shoe featuring waving palm trees called “storm awaiting” is popular right now.
Michael Maus, Worth Avenue Association treasurer and owner of Maus & Hoffman, a menswear store at 312 Worth Ave., said, “The Maus & Hoffman business remains incredibly strong. To my surprise, this season was better than the last. I was thinking the boom-cycle was coming to an end in the fall, as we had a brief slowdown.
“In hindsight, we were comparing against the 2021 supply chain apocalypse with our customers shopping for Christmas in September. This year all of Christmas demand came at the normal time leading up to the holiday, making up ground against the hyperactive fall of '21,” Maus said.
Maus said this year seemed more settled and less frenetic than last season, but speculates that merchants may have just become used to the busier pace.
Robert Klecinsky, director of retail services at Cushman Wakefield’s Palm Beach office, said there is very little retail space available on the island, and that rents have increased 20% to 30% over the last two or three years.
“About half my tenants are telling me it is the best year they have had over the years. Others say it is the same as last year. Everybody seems happy. There are maybe a few less people in town this year than last year, but the spending has been the same,” Klecinsky said.
“More new people are finding Worth Avenue. That creates a new customer and a new customer base, and the new person finding Worth Avenue, loving Worth Avenue and the experience and telling their friends,” Klecinsky said, adding the famous street is attracting nicely dressed tweens and teens who are doing a bit of shopping.
“What I am hearing from the young people is that they are over online shopping,” Klecinsky said. “They want to take in the stores, and they want to have the experience. There is no experience in South Florida more enjoyable, more personable than what they can get on Worth Avenue.”
People want to see and touch what they are buying, and know something about its history, provenance and how and where something is made, Klecinsky said.
Despite the tight commercial real estate market, a number of shops new to Palm Beach debuted this season. Among them were jeweler David Yurman at 249 Worth Ave., Lisa Gozian Jewelry at Worth Avenue’s Via Bice, watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen Boutique at 219 Worth Ave., luxury fashion brand Hadleigh’s at 209 Royal Poinciana Way and Mark Russell Custom Clothing, 294 S. County Road.
However, in some cases, openings took longer than expected, causing the businesses to miss out on some peak season months.
Courtney Hood, owner of Cou, a boutique specializing in resort wear and colorful handmade knits had hoped to open by Dec. 1 at the latest; but with so much construction going on in the area, it took months to find an architect to take on the small job.
“We needed the drawing. My dad drew the design on a napkin,” said Hood, who also owns a boutique in a summer resort in Ontario.
After finding an architect, Hood opened the shop at 296 S. County Road in mid-February. Merchandise was pre-ordered with the expectation it would be sold in December through February.
“With the time we did have, it was really good. It is starting to slow down now,” Hood said. “One of our best-selling products is heavy knitwear. We have had no issues selling it. It’s handmade in Peru. There is nothing colder than the malls and restaurants in Florida.”
Summit Furniture manager Austin Visschedyk, whose mother, Palm Beach resident Jane Sieberts, owns the business, moved from Los Angeles in April 2022 during the pandemic. His goal was to open what is now the handcrafted teak furniture company’s only East Coast location.
“It was difficult to find space. There was not much available at all. I was here so long waiting for contractors and permits, I got a little stir crazy,” Visschedyk said.
A professional photographer, Visschedyk opened Grandvue Studios, a photography studio, in Grandview Heights in West Palm Beach and is now running that and Summit. Summit opened at Via Flagler, 225 Royal Poinciana Way, in February.
As the season winds down, Visschedyk said he is seeing a lot of customers come into the Palm Beach store to order $2,000 teak director’s chairs and other outdoor furniture for their residences in Nantucket and the Hamptons.
“We are usually a to-the-trade company. This is a new avenue for us. We are finding being on the street is great as well,” Visschedyk said. “We love it. We are very glad we came here.”
Parking is always an issue in Palm Beach and has been for years. Stores from Royal Palm Way to Brazilian Avenue are flourishing, said Dr. Richard Lynn, a retired surgeon and president of the Palm Beach Midtown Business Association. Lynn is hopeful that a six-week free-ride service pilot program that began in April will help ease the town’s parking shortage.
The Circuit program already served the island, but the pilot program will increase service to Palm Beach. Lynn said he would like to see employers require their employees to use the shuttles. Especially concerning are restaurant employees who park on the street starting at 4 p.m., taking spaces that customers could use.
At The Royal Poinciana Plaza, known as The Royal, 340 Royal Poinciana Way, 70% of tenants experienced their best year ever as far as sales volume, said general manager Lori Berg.
“This past season was the strongest season yet for The Royal. The 2022-'23 season was exceptional, drawing guests from across the globe and in numbers that outpace past seasons with a strong number of tenants experiencing the best sales volume to date,” Berg said.
“We have loved welcoming all of the new families that now call Palm Beach home and our merchants have delivered by ensuring an incredible in-store experience that starts with world-class customer service and a robust merchandise mix,” Berg said.
In February The Royal unveiled a new shopping concept called The Current. It features three female-owned businesses, Hill House Home, La Vie Style House, and minnow. Located in the Hibel House building adjacent to The Playhouse at 150 Royal Poinciana Way, the Current provides a 2,468-square-foot retail destination. Construction is underway at the Playhouse.
Beth Buccini, owner of women’s clothing store Kirna Zabête Palm Beach, at The Royal, said the season has been amazing and it keeps extending every year. Sales were even with last year, which was the best year in the shop’s history since it opened in 2017.
“We have more than doubled our business since we started. Our peak this year was a little later, in March and April versus last year in February,” Buccini said. “This year, more than ever, we realized how many incredible clients are local, having recently relocated to Florida.”
Buccini expects things to start slowing down after Mother’s Day, just as the company’s East Hampton store starts to pick up, with many of the same clients there.
Jay Hartington, CEO of Marissa Collections, a jewelry, clothing, footwear and accessories store at The Royal, said sales at the shop are up 37% year-to-date.
"With COVID precautions diminishing, and social events returning, we noticed a trend toward more formal, elevated outfitting. As customers returned to galas and events, we saw an increase in glamorous pieces, cocktail attire, and mother-of-the-bride dresses," Hartington said.
John Zoller, senior vice president of retail operations at The Breakers, said the shops at The Breakers had a record-breaking year in 2022, and this year, the stores are experiencing a double-digit percentage increase in revenue.
“The Sports Pro Shop continues to set sales records with its extensive selection of performance and athleisure apparel, as well as sports equipment and accessories,” Zoller said. “Main Street by The Breakers, located at Via Flagler, had a wildly successful season. The local community has fully embraced the “coffee house-meets-trendy boutique concept.”
In November 2022 The Shops at The Breakers completed an extensive series of enhancements and welcomed a new boutique to its collection, Zoller said. Guerlain debuted reimagined interiors and an elevated Haute Parfumerie. Absolutely Suitable expanded, nearly doubling its original square footage. The Breakers welcomed a new free-standing Polo Ralph Lauren Kids store, one of only two in the U.S.
“We are partnering with Polo Ralph Polo Kids to offer exclusive Breakers-designed products, a collaboration that has thus far been extremely successful,” Zoller said.
The Breakers-owned businesses at Via Flagler ─ Henry’s, Main Street and SHAN, continue to exceed original projections.
Sherry Frankel, owner of Sherry Frankel’s Melangerie, 256 Worth Ave. in the Via Amore Courtyard, said, “We are all enjoying a really good season. Not everybody that is walking around is buying, but it has certainly been busy. We had so many new tourists and people looking to come to this area. Many of us have made new customers.”
Her shop offering custom-made items such as ceramics, embroidered pillows with clever sayings, robes and towels, gifts and accessories along with a huge collection of Limoges, has been in the same location for 27 years, and started at The Esplanade in 1979.
Stores focused on home décor did well, as business was boosted by residential sales, remodeling and new construction.
Nikki Connaughton, manager and buyer of Walker Zabriskie Furniture, 5 Via Parigi, said, “Last season was out of this world, and this season has been fantastic. It is slightly tamer. You had the whole supply chain issue. Now it is back to normal. It has evened out from the crazy rush and everybody moving down here and decorating a house. Now everyone is settled.”
“We offer such different products. Everything is handmade and natural materials. We tend to stick out,” Connaughton said.
Walker Zabriskie has owned and operated a warehouse at 6318 Georgia Ave. in West Palm Beach for 30 years and has held its warehouse sales there. Now with so many designers popping up on Georgia Avenue, it is renovating that to make more room for retail. The work is scheduled to be completed by October.
The Georgia Avenue location will serve as a space for bigger furniture pieces and customer ordering, and the Via Parigi shop will be more for décor and accessories, Connaughton said.
Katie Green, in sales at DEA Fine Linens, 341 Worth Ave., said, “We had a very encouraging season. A lot of new people have moved into the area and are redecorating and rebuilding. We sell fine bed, bath and table linens. That is always a good thing to be in when people are building and moving into an area.”
DEA plans to stay open all summer, which is a busy time for designers working on Palm Beach homes.
The outlook for summer is far from what it was three years ago, when most of Palm Beach shut down.
Maus said he expects summer business to remain strong relative to past years.
“Whether you like it or not, this town, the general area, and the entire state has a spotlight on it as an incredible place to live, work and play. It is why we all came here in the first place, right?” Maus said.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach retailers report an extremely robust 2022-23 season
