KITTY SAYS HELLO AGAIN TO NYC

clipped from cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com Kitty Says Hello Again to Times Square To anyone who remembers the bad old days in Times Square, the continuing transformation of West 42nd Street into a tourist and family entertainment center has been nothing short of stunning. Now Sanrio, the Japanese company that brought the world Hello Kitty, has revamped its shop on the north side of the street, turning a store previously filled with pens and cheap T-shirts into a fashion emporium with prices rivaling those found on Madison Avenue. The revamped Hello Kitty store reopened as a high-end fashion emporium in Times Square. (Photo: Kirsten Luce for The New York Times) The store, which was reopened two weeks ago, is the company’s first Sanrio Luxe boutique, which includes collections of clothing and accessories from well-known international designers, as well as a hodgepodge of collectibles from Japan. The company chose Times Square to test its latest retail strategy because of the range of young and old New Yorkers and tourist s who troll