[Patricia Field, center with red hair, with her friends and fans in front of her namesake store on its closing day Sunday at 5 p.m.]
Text and photos by Nick McManus
This past Sunday, a team of close friends and I took group portraits at five downtown businesses that are either moving from their longtime homes or closing forever as February came to a close.
We started at Patricia Field at 306 Bowery with Patricia herself. She's giving up the boutique business after 50 years to focus on her film and TV work.
We continued on to Trash and Vaudeville on St. Mark's Place where we were joined by longtime manager Jimmy Webb. (The store is moving to 96 E. Seventh St. this month.)
[Jimmy Webb in the front row with co-workers at Trash and Vaudeville]
We then walked to Soho to Pearl River Mart, where the staff was camera shy but let us take photos in the store on Broadway. The 45-year-old Pearl River Mart closes this week after its monthly rent multiplied 12x to upwards of $500,000.
[Last purchases at Pearl River Mart]
Afterward we visited the Soho location of Eastern Mountain Sports on Broadway to offer them warm wishes before heading back to the East Village to say goodbye to one of the best bookstores NYC will ever know, St. Mark's Bookshop.
[The staff and patrons of Eastern Mountain Sports' Soho location on its closing day Sunday]
[St. Mark's Bookshop staff member and artist Janet Bruesselbach, top right, sharing wine with her customers on the shop's final day at 7 p.m.]
Our team consisted of nightlife scion Pebbles Russell, who herself said goodbye to her home at Sway Lounge last December, artists Gabriel Specter and Jackson Lin, stylist Goldie Rush, costume tailor Amy McClure and Cara Brininstool. All were fans of these businesses and everyone did a great deal of shopping as we thanked those behind the counter for so many years of good times.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Closing time: Portraits of 3 newly shuttered storefronts
Closing portraits at The Sock Man
A final group photo at Vic's Pizza on Essex Street
My wish is that Pearl River would take the former Chase space at St. Marks and 2nd Avenue...before it vanishes forever!!!
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when St. Mark's Books was *one of* the best bookstores, but there are so many good bookstores in this city that it's a real stretch to say they were the best. Even at 50% off, they couldn't sell the books they had on their last day open.
ReplyDeleteWhat? EMS is closing? Shit; that was one of my favorite stores!
ReplyDeletesad to see all of these go but GREAT post; team EV Grieve for the win!
ReplyDeleteThe amazing thing about the Patricia Field and T & V photos is that they could just as easily be vintage Polaroids as taken this week. And I say that as a huge compliment.
ReplyDeleteLove the fact that these photos look like they were taken in the 70s.
ReplyDeletegreat job on the photos! thank you guys! can't believe how many good places are gone in the blink of an eye; not sure why I even live here any more sometimes.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I didn't know Eastern Mountain Sports was closing. Bought some nice jackets there over the years.
ReplyDelete@7:01 - I love that idea. If only the rent on that space wasn't so ridiculous.
Hoping for new affordable homes for all of these! I've been a Pearl River customer since their earliest days, and there's no replacing them. I see that they still have on online presence, but there's no replacing the experience of wandering through every aisle of the store. Never walked out empty-handed . . .
ReplyDeleteI had no idea.
ReplyDeleteI was a Pearl River customer when they were in Chinatown. And I frequented the SoHo store often (great for cheap gifts) On and on it goes..........