Thursday, March 26, 2009

Bushwick Thrift

This is the final installment of my Bushwick tour, one long day that began with a walk along Myrtle Avenue, then through the industrial section's street art. In that same area, near the Morgan L stop, in the middle of nowhere, is an odd cluster of thrift shops.



What makes these thrift shops so fascinating is that they strongly resemble the thrift shops of the 1980s and early 1990s. Stepping into these places is like stepping back into a time filled with second-hand Doc Martens and Elvis wall hangings. They remind me of Domsey's. (Does Domsey's still exist?)

Huge and jam-packed, these shops offer a plentiful amount of affordable stuff. This is not the questionably named Cheap Jack's or Andy's Chee-Pees. Here, everything really is cheap. While there are a few (well-behaved) hipsters here, most of the customers are low-income locals. These are real thrift stores, meant for people with not a lot of money to spend.

You don't get that "too cool for school" feeling here, yet you will find cool stuff. Kind of a perfect balance. Maybe, out in Bushwick, it really is 1990.

8 comments:

  1. Domsey's (as you knew it) no longer exists. They might still be using it as a shipping point to send used clothing overseas (or wherever), but they haven't had a thrift in many years.

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  2. man, first thing i thought of was Domsey's. Talk about old skool Williamsburg(?). It's been 20 years.
    Went there a few times and spent hours picking through the goodies.

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  3. WRONG! Both of you! Though the Domsey's warehouse is no longer they still run a thrift store by the Hewes stop on the J train on broadway.

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  4. my heart truely stopped when i heard you mention domsey's. that place was an important part of my teen years!

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  5. Domsey's was great! Especially the somewhat smelly and disgusting clothes-by-the-pound area.

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  6. I love me some good old-fashioned thrift stores. I'm not familiar with Bushwick. Are these shops right near the L train stop or on another block? Can someone give me a more solid location? Thanks!

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  7. Yes Domseys does still exist. They have a few stores in Brooklyn.

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  8. They are by Knickerbocker and Flushing Ave.

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