Enz's Boutique has closed on 2nd Avenue

As of yesterday, Enz's Boutique has ended its long tenure in the East Village.

Owner-designer Mariann Marlowe has run the rockabilly and retro clothes shop at 125 Second Ave. for the past 18 years after relocating from St. Mark's Place. (The store dates to the 1970s on Grove Street.)

Marlowe told EVG correspondent Stacie Joy that she has enjoyed serving her clientele, including various musicians and artists through the years, but has grown tired of the hostile retail climate and the daily rigor of running the shop.

She has had to manage a variety of issues outside the shop here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place in recent years, including the new-building construction next door, the presence of travelers on the nearby corner and even an impromptu Amazon distribution center on the Avenue.

However, Marlowe isn't leaving the retail business entirely. Starting on Nov. 16, she'll have a kiosk at the new Turnstyle Underground Market in the Columbus Circle Station. You can also find some of her designs at Jimmy Webb's I Need More boutique on Orchard Street.

And who knows, you may even see her back in the East Village one day.


[Photo of Marlowe from 2014 by Stacie Joy]

Updated: Jeremiah Moss has more shop history here.

Claim: Amazon deliveries taking up prime space on 2nd Avenue, hurting business at Enz's

Last month, The Villager reported on Amazon contract delivery trucks "showing up in large unmarked vehicles around Union Square and other Downtown neighborhoods with increasing frequency."

In recent months, an unmarked truck has set up an impromptu distribution center on Second Avenue at Seventh Street — in front of where the three buidlings were destroyed following the deadly gas explosion in March 2015.



"They are blocking me, every day — even on the weekends," Mariann Pizzaia, owner of the 1950s-inspired boutique Enz's at 125 Second Ave., told me. "Sometimes people can't walk on Second Avenue. There are at least six to eight workers banging boxes."

The workers will sort packages in the street or on the sidewalk, loading them on small hand trucks for delivery to neighboring residences.



Aside from being an ongoing annoyance, Pizzaia says that the truck obscures her storefront for periods of up to four-plus hours daily, and she is missing out on potential foot traffic from people waking on the other side of Second Avenue or dining outside at Bar Virage or Cafe Mocha.

There are signs posted stating that this is a No Standing zone 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily in this far Bus Only lane. However, Pizzaia says that the truck parks here during these hours.



For its story, The Villager traced the source to a New York-based trucking and freight-shipping company called Cornucopia Logistics, which has warehouses in New Jersey.

Cornucopia’s corporate parent, Avant Business Services, has a dispatching office in One Grand Central Plaza’s basement. Ken Daniels, an Avant financial executive, refused ... to discuss the nature of his company’s contract with Amazon or to explain why it allows workers to use city streets as an ad hoc warehouse and distribution hub.

The Villager spoke with Julie Jang, the manager of Jay Nails at 780 Broadway.

“Basically, they park all day,” Jang said, claiming the trucks overstay a three-hour metered parking limit on commercial vehicles imposed by the city’s Department of Transportation. “They load up all the boxes on the street where cars park. They have a canopy when it rains.”

Jang said Cornucopia’s street operation has caused business to drop at the nail salon because “they’re right in front of our store and people passing can’t see our awning..."

Pizzaia just reached out to elected local officials, and hopes to get some help with the impromptu unloading zone that she says is hurting her business.



"Honestly I really don't want to fight these people every day," Pizzaia said. "I don't want to close my shop, but this is not fun."

All photos courtesy of Mariann Pizzaia

Updated 10/5

The trucking company has promised to move its operation to the two-block stretch of Lafayette between Astor Place and Fourth Avenue, The Villager reports.

Enz's Boutique returns to 2nd Avenue

[Photo yesterday via Jimmy Carbone]

Enz's at 125 Second Ave. has reopened … The rockabilly boutique between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street was badly damaged in the deadly gas explosion on March 26 that destroyed the adjacent buildings at 119-123 Second Ave.

While rebuilding her storefront, owner Mariann Marlowe was able to do business from several different pop-up locations in the neighborhood.

When she was able to get back into the storefront earlier last month, "she found extensive water damage … The basement was flooded, the floors buckled and black mold had begun growing on the walls," according to DNAinfo. "It's a raw space right now. It's down to the beams," Marlowe said in a story published on April 21.

Here's a photo of the new-look shop via Enz's Facebook page from yesterday…



Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to Enz's Boutique

A pop-up shop for damaged East Village boutique Enz's

125 Second Ave. was badly damaged during the explosion and subsequent fire that brought down its neighboring buildings to the south on March 26.

Enz's, the rockabilly boutique in one of the retail spaces at 125 Second Ave., is continuing to try to reopen its longtime home here with the help of a crowdfunding campaign.

Meanwhile, as The Lo-Down first noted yesterday, owner Mariann Marlowe is operating a pop-up shop at 103 Allen St. just below Delancey through next Wednesday...



Made in the Lower East Side (miLES) operates the storefront, which is available free of charge to any East Village business affected by the Second Avenue building collapse. Details here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to Enz's Boutique

A visit to Enz's Boutique

Photos and text by Stacie Joy

After seeing Facebook posts after the recent one-year anniversary party for the Park Slope location of Enz's, we decided to revisit the original Enz's (home of Real Rockin’ Clothes) in the East Village.

Owned and operated by Mariann Marlowe (photo above), the rockabilly and retro clothes shop has been at 125 Second Ave. location for the past 13 years after relocating from St. Mark's Place. (The store dates to the 1970s on Grove Street.)

Mariann mentioned that she always wanted the shop to be on Second Avenue and she has done wonders for the slim space that used to be a cellular phone store.

Every surface is packed with clothes (for men, women and kids), accessories and products, jewelry and makeup for sale. The shop carries designs for sizes xxs to xxl so most folks can be clothed there.

We asked Bianca Dagga to model some of the clothes that Mariann designed and styled, as well as a few from other retro clothiers.

Mariann (a one-woman whirling dervish) didn’t stop moving, talking, cleaning and styling; travel plans were made, images taken, people clothed, smiles exchanged and neighbors chatted up. Mariann has designed for and clothed artists ranging from Dirty Martini and Amanda Lepore to Lou Reed and Debbie Harry. (She has also worked on shows such as "Law & Order" and "Satuarday Night Live.")

During the brief time we were in the shop many people dropped by to shop and talk shop. Drag queens looking for something couture and spectacular, a duo of sisters with their mom looking for high-waisted skinny jeans and ’50s-inspired tops, and international traveler Alejandro who graciously agreed to pose with Bianca (and who tried very hard to get her number). Layrite pomade was mandatory for this look.

Enz’s is open every day, usually from noon until 8 p.m. The store has policies that can seem a bit off-putting if you aren’t familiar. First off, you need to be buzzed into the shop. And appointments are strongly suggested, especially if you plan to try on items in the surprisingly spacious dressing rooms or receive styling assistance from Mariann or one of the shop gals.