By Liana Grey
The discount chain Lot-Less Closeouts has leased a 13,000 s/f storefront at 206 West 40th Street in the Garment District.
The shop is currently undergoing renovations, and is slated to open the first week of August. “We wanted to expand to the Midtown area,” said the company’s president, Raymond Cohen. “We thought it would be a good fit for Lot-Less.”
Steven Martin of Olmstead Properties helped Lot-Less secure the space, which is located in a two-story building between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and was previously occupied by several different fabric stores. “The location seemed to be ideal, with foot traffic and accessibility to the Port Authority and Times Square,” said Martin.
Lot-Less — which sells everything from electronics to clothing at a discount, sometimes as much as 80 percent below department store prices — has nine outposts in the New York Metropolitan area, including two in New Jersey and one in the Bronx.
In Manhattan, the retailer initially focused on leasing space downtown, opening shops at 97 Chamber Street in TriBeCa, 80 Clinton Street in the Lower East Side, and 299 Broadway near Duane Street.
In the fall of 2009, the company leased an 18,000 s/f retail space on Fulton Street that formerly housed a Strand bookstore. Charles Beyda and Judah Sutton of JUD Leasing represented Lot-Less in that transaction, and the landlord was represented in-house by Nat Braun of Braun Management.
“With construction on Fulton Street nearing completion, the retail space at 95 Fulton Street will see increased pedestrian traffic along a cobblestone street and will be the center of retail activity on this busy corridor,” Beyda said in a statement at the time. With the brand popular with tourists and office workers alike, opening a shop in the Times Square area seemed a logical next move.
As the company has already begun eyeing space across the East River. “We’re looking to expand into Brooklyn,” Cohen said.
