Article: Mad Ave.'s new mix: prestige boutiques, big chains stir revival.(Madison Avenue, New York, New York)

NEW YORK - Store construction sites are bustling. Well-heeled, younger customers are crowding the street, and vacancy rates are way down.

Madison Avenue is hopping.

Long associated with exclusive boutiques priced beyond the reach of average shoppers, the avenue's recent growth has been a neat tick: Its designer cachet is still intact, but an expanding roster of national chains is pulling in a new layer of customers.

As designers such as Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani snapped up large spaces, vacancy rates began dwindling. They are now less than 5 percent, compared with 15 percent two years ago. Rent for prime retail real estate on Madison Avenue has ...

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