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Read the press release here.

Women's Clothes Shop Targets 'Low- and Middle-Income' Brooklyn Residents

By Janet Upadhye | December 17, 2014 4:47pm
 The women's apparel store has other locations in Manhattan and Connecticut.
The women's apparel store has other locations in Manhattan and Connecticut.
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Facebook/Social Apparel

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A clothing store that offers affordable dresses to teens and adults is set to open in Fulton Street Mall, targeting low- and middle-income New Yorkers, according to the real estate agent.

Social Apparel will replace America’s Food Court at 455 Fulton St., near Smith Street.

CityTarget, a miniature version of Target, also recently announced plans to move to the Fulton Street Mall along with Century 21 and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

These megastores will join Armani Exchange, Sephora, T.J. Maxx, Hill Country Barbecue, H&M, Banana Republic and U.S. Polo Association, which have also moved to the mall in recent years.

Social Apparel chose the location in part to cater to clientele that might not be looking for higher-end clothing, according to the real estate broker that oversaw the deal.

“With a very specific criteria for their locations, Social Apparel can be quite particular about which streets will garner ample business," said Ezra Safdieh, of Winick Realty Group, in a statement. "Their strategy targets shopping corridors that brim with low- and middle-income customers."

"There may only be a handful of such streets left in New York City."

The average household income in Downtown Brooklyn is $108,100, according to census data. 

The neighborhood is also home to some of the most luxurious high-rises in the borough including 388 Bridge Street, which has 40 penthouse apartments that carry a price tag of $1.7 to $6 million and the recently constructed BKLYN Air that has a rooftop pool and three-bedroom apartments that rent for $8,500 a month.

But Safdieh said that while residents of the area may be wealthy, shoppers who frequent the area are likely to shop at Social Apparel.

"A 10-plus year stay for retailers like Rainbow, Jimmy Jazz and Payless indicates, to myself and Social Apparel, a notable portion of the customers' aggregate purchasing power on Fulton Street," he said. "Knowledge of these retailers' success on Fulton street led me to walk the street a few times and decide if this corridor would be suitable for a tenant like Social Apparel."

The storefront provides the chain store, which has other locations in Herald Square and Connecticut, with 2,224 square feet of space on the ground floor plus another 800 square feet on the second floor.

Social Apparel did not respond to requests for comment.