Why Men’s Retail Is Booming in Manhattan

Angelo Baque says he never envisioned opening a store for his 12-year-old, New York-based streetwear label Awake because of how challenging it is to run a brick-and-mortar business in Manhattan.

But in June last year, Awake opened the doors to its first physical shop, on the hot retail strip of Orchard Street on New York’s Lower East Side. Baque said that, aside from once being personally told by the late Virgil Abloh to open a store, he was able to finance it with an investment from…