Tiffany not only spent far more than its customary $600 to $900 per square foot rate for build outs, according to a source close to the company. It also built a far larger store than the 5,000- to 6,000-square-foot spaces the jeweler has favored over the last seven years. This year the company has backed off big showplaces even further, stating in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that it plans to focus on 2,000-square-foot shops.

Italian luxury menswear brand Canali, meanwhile, chose to join the party just this May, launching its first New York boutique at 25 Broad Street partly because Tiffany's presence inspired confidence. The $275 million Milan-based brand had been selling $2,000 suits and even a limited-edition $15,000 suit or two until mid-September. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, business has tanked, too, according to Giorgio Canali, president for North American operations.

"It's a little difficult to adjust," he said. "Definitely these are not easy days: Looking at the market losing 679 points, the feeling is not that positive down there."

Tiffany and Canali trumpet the base of 310,000 workers and an estimated 50,000-strong residential population in lower Manhattan as cause for optimism over the long term. But the financial crisis hits both groups of potential shoppers, and there will be far fewer workers on Wall Street as the crisis continues. Battered firms Merrill Lynch (now part of Bank of America) and A.I.G. are among lower Manhattan's largest employers, and are likely to shed jobs and some of their combined 6.1 million square feet of neighborhood office space. These ripple effects would follow the 111,201 financial-services job cuts announced this year through September, according to data from outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.

As the Dow Jones swooned again early last week, downtown workers lined up for cheap burritos at Chipotle on Maiden Lane during lunchtime, shunning Hermès, Tumi, and Thomas Pink nearby.

A Tiffany spokesman insisted the company still believes in the financial district. More important, as the company seeks to ride out a slow time for retail in general and Wall Street stores in particular, it has some financial strength to tap. The $2.9 billion firm is profitable, with $153 million in cash on the balance sheet. Sources also said that Tiffany negotiated a bargain rent of around $110 per square foot, compared with the $250 to $300-per-square-foot prices more recent deals such as Canali likely commanded.

New stores, even those owned by large global companies, generally have a three-year time horizon to break even. Having tied their fortunes to Wall Street, top brass at these stores can only hope it recovers in time.

"Their future is a mirror image of the future of Wall Street itself," said Bernard.