15 of the Most Expensive Retail Locations from 1988

We took a look at 15 of the most expensive global retail locations from our first Main Streets Across the World to see how far they’ve come in 25 years. The results? Some have come a long way, indeed. Look no farther than the Champs-Élysées where prime retail rents are more than nine times what they were in 1988. Yet other locations from that year do not appear in our most recent Main Streets survey.

The most dramatic growth came from locations that were not on many people’s radar 25 years ago, including three of the most expensive shopping locations anywhere on the planet, all in Hong Kong. Download Main Streets Across the World 2013-2014 for the full report.

2013-2014 Highlights

Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay remains the world’s costliest retail location for the second year running and breaks through the $3,000 per sq ft barrier for the first time in the survey’s 25-year history
New York’s Fifth Avenue and Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, which saw nearly a 40% rental rise, hold on to second and third place respectively
With continued demand from international luxury brands, rents in London’s New Bond Street increased by more than 15% as the location climbed from sixth to become the fourth most expensive shopping street in the world
Global retail rents remain resilient overall with a 3.2% average increase recorded for prime locations
The Americas showed the strongest regional growth with prime rents increasing by 5.8%