THRIFTING IN NEW YORK 

photograph courtesy of maps.google.com
Housing Works Thrift Shop, 10th St. New York City

Thrift stores, while seeming to operate at the periphery of the commercial world, have always been a staple for seekers of lost treasure, unusual finds or simply affordable used items. And now it seems they are enjoying a renaissance in New York, probably a reflection of the distressed economy but also proof of their enduring charm as an alternative shopping experience and useful recycling option. Still, even thrift stores need to change with the times and enhance their appeal, which is why the people that run them now pay closer attention to making them attractive retail spaces filled with salable inventory culled from donations which, these days, often include brand new or hardly used items and even one-of-a-kind designer clothes.  While consumers are looking for bargains, they certainly don't want to spend money on hopeless junk.

Take the Goodwill Store that opened last year on 8th St., between Sixth Ave. and Fifth Ave. Its presence, a welcome addition to this popular Greenwich Village corner, more than makes up for the closing of a Salvation Army store that operated up the street out of a run-down, dingy locale where, alas, everything seemed perennially coated with a mantle of dust. The Goodwill Store occupies a roomy bright space that is pleasant to shop in. Inside, everything looks neat and well organized: Clothing hangs on racks at the front of the store (during a recent visit all t-shirts were sorted out by color like a rainbow); household goods, neatly arrayed on white shelves, and furnishings can be found in the back. The store is operated by Goodwill Industries of Greater New York & New Jersey, Inc., a non-sectarian, nonprofit organization serving people with mental and physical disabilities, the unemployed, new immigrants, ex-offenders, mature workers and underserved youth.


Angel Street Thrift Shop, located on 17th street, has spruced up in recent times enough to look almost like a boutique. Inside, the bright lights of the store allow customers to size up the mix of goods typical of most thrift shops, from clothing and house ware to books and furnishings; here, however, the focus seems to be on apparel and accessories, both for men and women.  Quality of merchandise has improved and it's not unusual for the store to receive large caches of unsold designer goods such as the large collection of beautiful and well-made hair ornaments it sold out during the past holiday season. Proceeds from sales at Angel Street benefit programs for individuals and families affected by substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and mental illness.

And then there is Housing Works, one of the most stylish thrift store operations in New York city and among the most visible thanks to its growing number of locations. Out of 12 shops manned by volunteers, 11 are located in Manhattan with one lone bastion in Brooklyn. Housing Works, which is devoted to helping people with HIV/AIDS, seems to have a knack for finding terrific locales. Its stores have a homey and casual vibe.  The store in Chelsea, for example, occupies a ground floor loft space with beautiful wooden floors and handsome furnishings which are for sale but double as decorative props while awaiting for discerning customers to snap them up. The store at West 10th St., in Greenwich Village, is small and inviting: going in is like stepping into someone's cozy apartment.

Merchandise sold at Housing Works stores is a standout: The high quality and quantity of donations make shopping an ever changing feast for customers on the look out for bargains and special finds. To be sure, not everything sold in Housing Work stores is cheap but it is rare not to find a steal, whether it be regular or designer clothing, accessories such as bags and shoes, house ware or furnishings. Open seven days a week, stores feature regular discounts: one day it might be 50 percent off of everything while another day it may be a percentage off for particular items, such as books or household goods. Turnover is fast, which can sometimes lead to amazing offers at the end of the day when store staff need to get rid of particularly bulky but fabulous pieces of furniture in order to make room for new donations. (As part of a busy fundraising agenda, Housing Works holds regular online and store auctions featuring top of the line donations. Check out the organization's website to participate in upcoming auctions.)

The Goodwill Store  44 West 8th St.   212.472.7024
Angel Thrift Store  118 West 17th St.  212.229.0546
Housing Works   housingworks.org
       143 West 17th St.  718.838.5050
                            245 West 10th St.  212.352.1618
(Caveat Emptor: There are plenty of things to buy in thrift stores but certain items pose lurking dangers as noted in a recent post at sammydvintage.com/thrifting/thrift-store-shopping-not-buy-used/)

"Be yourself and the world is your oyster."
Emerson

DavidsTea 
or Starbucks turned coffee into a must drink and now it's DavidsTea time....
Tea a boring drink?  No way! And it's not just the available varieties of this ancient soothing brew, beloved by so many cultures: think black tea, and white, green, red (rooibos), oolong, pu'erh, maté, not to mention all kinds of herbal teas. Nowadays, tea purveyors sell teas infused with unique flavors or floral essences and one company that seems bent on popularizing tea in the same way Starbucks advocated coffee is DavidsTea, a Canada-based chain that recently opened two outposts in Manhattan, one in the Upper East Side and the other on Bleeker St., in Greenwich Village.

The Bleeker St. outlet is a candy-colored shop with shelves lined up with chic-looking silver tins sporting color-coded labels for easy identification. There are plenty of tables to sit at, unless you prefer standing at the long counter to sample any of the profuse selection of teas with tantalizing names and ingredients such as: some velvet morning, coco chai rooibos, jungle ju ju, midsummer night's dream, chicory dickory dock, la la lemon, and so on. Have a cuppa or buy a 2 ounce packet of loose tea to enjoy at home. Tea for sale, packaged in loose leaf form, is priced between $4.50 and $13 though there are also more expensive blends.

davidstea.com

275 Bleecker, between Jones St. & Morton St.  212.414.8599
1124 Third Ave., Upper East Side 212.717.1116

Photograph by Denise Blasor

“I've got nothing to do today but smile.”
--Simon & Garfunkel

Copyright 2012 © Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved










davidstea.com

ECOMANIA, INDIAN FOOD, RAIZA's JEWELS

Photograph by Juliette Blasor

USE/REUSE -- Some people's notion of a thrift store probably goes something like this: a dingy place filled with dusty old things and peopled with quirky characters right out of a Hollywood movie. Such places do exist; on the other hand, there are plenty of thrift stores that belie this description such as Ecomania in old San Juan, which is clean and attractive and the kind of store where any shopper with a few bucks in their pocket can while away some free time in search of a bargain, or a treasure. Thrift stores engage the imagination with the untold stories behind the myriad objects on their shelves and serve a useful role in the world of commerce as recyclers of still perfectly usable consumer goods.

A MANIA FOR ECOMANIA

 

IN a society of disposable goods, consumer objects have a short shelf life. Once used,sometimes infrequently or not at all, they are consigned to the rubbish heap or else discarded into the nether regions of a closet or the attic, never to be seen again. But what if you were to give these perfectly still usable goods a second chance and along the way, recoup a portion of the original investment?  

THAT'S the concept behind Ecomania, a thrift store in old San Juan that operates strictly on a consignment basis, sharing a percentage of each sale with the owners of the merchandise. Since opening in March 2010, the store has become a magnet for sellers eager to unload belongings and buyers just as eager to pick up bargains.  

FOR Evelyn Lopez, who teamed up with her sister Doris to start the store, Ecomania is not just as a financial venture but an expression of their environmental awareness. "Recycling is one of my priorities," said Lopez, a lawyer with a part-time practice." We have to be more conscious of finite resources."

SMACK on the corner of Luna and San Justo Streets, Ecomania operates out of a grand 2,100-square-foot locale on the ground floor of a restored three story apartment building. It's an airy space with lofty ceilings and the look of an old-fashioned ballroom. Furniture, clothing, bags, shoes, books, knick knacks of all sorts, jewelry and art compete for the buyers attention on shelves and tables painted in bright colors, green and apple red. Everything looks clean and in good condition, a requirement for any of the goods accepted for sale by the store under renewable three-month consignment contracts in which store and seller agree to share the proceeds of the sale in equal measure, or 50 percent each. The store's cut on furnishings and works of art is higher, 60 and 70 percent, respectively. Lopez sets prices based on information from clients who get paid the first week of each month for any sales realized in the previous month.

BESIDES helping to raise consciousness about the necessity "to value what we have," the store gives buyers an alternative at a time when they have less cash on hand because of the troubled economy. "A business like this was needed and people send us blessings which is very encouraging," said Evelyn one recent afternoon as customers, drawn by word of mouth, ambled around the store checking merchandise.

LOPEZ said she felt gratified about opening the store which luckily does not pay any rent since she owns the building. "This is the perfect business because (here) you can find useful things at very economical prices," she said.

ECOMANIA #251 Calle Luna, corner San Justo 787.204.3254 Open only on

Wednesday & Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Graffiti on Loiza Street     Photograph by Denise Blasor

"What are days for?/Days are where we live./They come, they wake

us/ Time & time over./ They are to be happy in:/Where can we

live but days?" Philip Larkin

A TASTE OF INDIA: If you love Indian food, Ayurvedics in Old San Juan is the ideal place to shop for Indian products like spices, condiments, pulses (dals), packaged meals, and more. The store also stocks up on organic food products for both humans and pets, as well as healthy alternatives for common consumer products such as laundry detergent without formaldehyde.

Ayurvedics, #304 Fortaleza Street, Old San Juan 787.721.4369

RAIZA's JEWELS: Raiza Ascanio is a creative young woman who makes

    Courtesy of Raiza Ascanio

colorful, funky jewelry out of unlikely

materials such as magazine pages or, more recently, prints of photographs taken by her equally talented artist boyfriend Franklin Rivera. She cuts out the prints into strips and rolls them into beads to make eye catching necklaces whose centerpiece

is a pendant featuring a small

laminated print of one of Rivera's

pictures. The earrings have unusual shapes and also highlight Rivera's work. Necklace, $20. Earrings, $10. You can reach her by phone at 787.409.9387 or e-mail to ascanio.raiza@gmail.com

Copyright © 2011 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved