MTA officials said Monday that the new Apple megastore at Grand Central Terminal in New York City is helping boost sales at other businesses in the terminal.
Sales at restaurants, stores and other outfits rose 7.5 % between December and March compared to the same time frame ending in March 2011, Nancy Marshall, director of Grand Central development at the MTA, said.
“Apple has been a super thing for tenants and the overall public,” Marshall said at an Metropolitan Transportation Committee meeting. “The tenants couldn’t be happier.”
The MTA rents space to about 100 businesses.
When the Apple store opened in December 2011, officials said they expected it would draw more people into the terminal, and that a significant number of them would spend money at other businesses. Retailers at Grand Central brought in $177 million in sales last year, up 2.8% above 2010.
“It really is a terrific story when you look across the years…” Metro-North President Howard Permut said.