In the crowd of shoe stores on 8th Street between 5th and 6th, Stylish Shoe stood out. The 50-year-old business specialized in Western wear, the windows cluttered with cowboys and Indians, rattlesnakes, turquoise belt buckles, and feathered headdresses.
But what's half a century in business these days? Stylish Shoe shuttered in March and has just been gutted.
Most recently owned by Murray Newmark, Stylish Shoe had been struggling for a while, along with the other shoe stores on the street. In 2010, Crain's cited the problematic opening of nearby shoe discounters like DSW and Shoe Mania.
But Stylish Shoe had character no chain could imitate. Wrote a designer in Racked a couple of years ago, "Upon entering my first time, I was greeted with 'Welcome to the wild west' by an elderly gentleman behind the register. Behind him, the wall boasted headshots of models, musicians and drag queens from the 70's, 80's, and 90's, all past customers. Apparently the store has been in business since the 1940's or 50's."
Crain's
The landlord is asking $125 per square foot for the space. The realtor's listing highlights neighbors NYU and the forthcoming Marlton boutique hotel--that promised neighborhood-changer--along with a long list of national chains: Barnes & Noble, Chipotle, Domino, Le Pain Quotidien, as well as the trendy Stumptown Coffee and Growler Station. Looks like the perfect spot for another 7-11.
And the 8th Street hypergentrification committee gets one step closer to their dream come true.
So 8th street is no longer a magical land of shoes, where sometimes to get you your size the salesperson actually goes across the street to another store? I owned (and still own) many, many shoes and boots bought on 8th street.
ReplyDeletethat was an old store. guess i never knew the name of it, or it opened later on as 8th st declined. there was also the famous fred braun, & sam kramer the jeweler. those were nice boutiques, all along 8th st w/book stores. the last 2 closed in 1964. then 8th street became schlocky w/all those discount places. (hard to believe this one stayed in business). if JVNY were around, you all would be upset. the cool people on 8th street disappeared & it became another w.34 street. you would be appalled @ the death of 8th street, & how it lost its bohemian culture. (whelans chain drug store was the beginning of the end, 6 ave & 8 st). i dont get this conflict of values. schlock is schlock. shame on you. want cheap shoes, go to w.14st!
ReplyDeleteAnd if you wanted a nice nightgown or a gift for a woman friend you went to Lee Bauman, which was expensive, but what a treat. There was also a good butcher store on 8th St., I think at University, not sure ... I used to get steak tartare ground to order.
ReplyDeleteThis place had nothing but nice and friendly people, i bought my first pair of cowboy boots here in 2009. Ever since it became my 1st top choice to buy boots from.
ReplyDeleteI recently wen't a couple of weeks ago to get a new pair of boots to end up confused because i was looking for the store and i couldn't find it, i though i was lost or something but how could I?... It wasn't my 1st nor 5th time there...
Sadly i found the store and noticed it's been turned into a temporal Halloween store. :l