Before you head out on this oh-so-pleasant Saturday morning, why don't you take a moment to peruse the top Racked stories of the past week?
1) Meatpacking District: A few of Scoop's many MePa shops remain shuttered due to damage caused by a burst water pipe. Luckily, there are so many other Scoop boutiques in this city.
2) Bowery: Wine and liquor shop Bowery & Vinesettled in to a massive new space right next door to Bowery Whole Foods and its beer store. Booze for everyone!
3) East Village:Starbucks baristas are forced to clean graffiti off of the exterior of their shop. Why? We'll never know.
Our favorite new, bland Bleecker Street chain retailer is up and running. Sunglass Hut held a dim Grand Opening at 351 Bleecker over the weekend, and splurged on a whole bag of Terra Exotic Chips for the occasion. It's unclear how long Sunglass Hut staffers will offer finger foods, but if they get lucky and a tour group stops by, they just might have to break open a second bag. As expected, the interior of the shop was uber-bright and clean with a storage system not unlike the bra drawers at Victoria's Secret. There were also tealights. The party was...quiet, to say the least. Condomania, no. 351's previous inhabitant, definitely got more action than this.
Opening day at the Apple Store on 14th Street and Ninth Avenue
While stores come and go all over this town, this year there were a few neighborhoods that really evolved (or devolved, depending on your perspective). The following four ‘hoods were hotbeds of retail activity…
4) 14th Street in MePa: A ginormous new Apple Store had us christen the entire neighborhood the "iPacking District," but it wasn't the only arrival MePa weathered this year. Diane von Furstenberg's spectacular flagship opened in May, bringing chic wrap dresses to 14th and Washington. In September, word leaked that Hugo Boss would be taking space on 14th right next door to Apple (the store is still under construction). Meanwhile, we awaited new flagships for Poleci and Ports nearby. Though the 'hood welcomed many newcomers this year, it also lost delicious pastry purveyor Little Pie Company and housewares shop Bodum, which may or may not be relocating to Soho.
WEST VILLAGE—Our new favorite store to hate on Bleecker Street is opening any day now according to a reader, who writes: "It looks like Sunglass Hut is set to open soon on Bleeker St and West 10th and I doubt highly it's a 'concept store'." Ralph can't be pleased about this one! [RackedWire Inbox]
MIDTOWN EAST—Has anyone had time to stop by the Diane von Furstenberg sample sale? A reader writes: "Any word on whether it’s worth going to? I went to the last one and remember that the prices weren’t that great but the line to check out was over an hour wait…am debating going this time around." If you've been, feel free to send in a report. [RackedWire Inbox]
WEST VILLAGE—A Racked correspondent sends a scan of an article in WestView, a local West Village newspaper that's sadly not online, about rents going up and the American Dream dying on Bleecker Street. Some numbers: Miguelina's paying $25,000/month, the 400-square-foot old Condomania/future Sunglass Hut space is going for $18,000/month and the Afghani jewelry store at 10th/Bleecker which is closing at the end of the year is going from $7,500 to $44,000 a month. No word on what it's costing Marc Jacobs to throw the neighborhood under a bus. [WestView; .pdf, .pdf]
SOHO—We're slightly confused by Chic Report's post on the Marni sale currently taking place at the company's Soho store. It reads: "The Marni sample sale is by no means an ordinary run-of-the-mill free-for-all. Invited guests are required to make an appointment with Linda in the SoHo store, after which they come up to the space and shop in quiet." So you have to go all the way down to the store to track down some staffer named Linda to make an appointment—after being invited? That sounds incredibly laborious. [Chic Report]
In the West Village, rubbers are out and Oakleys are in. Yes, that's right, our new favorite whipping boySunglass Hut has hung a shingle at 351 Bleecker Street. You may recall that the address used to belong to jimmy hat emporium Condomania. Flavored lubes, ball gags and prophylactics of all sizes can still be found in a few stores in the area...but for how long?
· RackedWire: Bleecker Gets Bleaker, Denise Carbonell Resurfaces [Racked]
WEST VILLAGE—According to the construction workers, the store going into the former Condomania space at 351 Bleecker Street (pictured above) will be a Sunglass Hut. No joke. Bleecker Street is a mall, the West Village is over, etc. [RackedWire Inbox]
RED HOOK—Good news for fans of quirky LES furniture and housewares store Denise Carbonell Gallery, which closed up shop over the summer: Owner Denise Carbonell is opening a new store in Red Hook. She writes, "i am the person who had the storefront at 154 stanton street for the last 20 years.....which i sold in july 2007...and now i am preparing to open my new shop in red hook on van brunt street....i should be ready by february in 2008. the name of the shop will be metal and thread....as you may or may not know...my last shop had my name(denise carbonell) on the door...and louis zufflacht's name on each side atop the corner building...so this time,i thought i'd actually name my shop. i just thought you'd like to know,because people have been asking me. cheers!" [RackedWire]
NOLITA—Another store bites the dust in Nolita. A reader writes: "Walked down Mott St on my way to the subway today and one of the storefronts on Mott b/w Houston and Prince on the eastern side is closed, emptied, and has a big for rent sign on the window. I *think* it was A Detacher… but it may have been that other store nearby (christopher totman I think?) that has those fairly ugly/organic I think A-line dresses and seems to always be having 'sample sales.'" [RackedWire Inbox]
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