There's been some talk of late that
New York Central Art Supply on Third Avenue near East 11th Street is hurting for business. (
Jeremiah Moss had a post on this last Thursday.)
"No one is buying art supplies the way they used to," a tipster here told us. "Now that there are so many online shops and NYC is turning into a gigantic mall people aren't going to the little tiny art supply store."
The tipster continued: "Basically it's going under and it's way more of an issue for the employees than the owners. The owners own three buildings, and can make plenty of money for themselves."
We heard that several longtime employees of the store were let go. The
Observer reported that the store could close by the end of the year.
DNAinfo had more on this yesterday:
New York Central Art Supply began offering up to 50 percent in discounts on Friday to eliminate its low- and mid-level products so it can focus on more “high-quality, hard-to-find and unique” materials, said Doug Steinberg, whose family has owned the Third Avenue business since 1905.
“We’re going to get away from things you can get anywhere and only focus on stuff you can only get at New York Central Art Supply,” said Steinberg, who insisted the store was not closing, despite rumors.
“We’re just limiting our selection to a highly curated set of materials.”
The owners also plan on renting out their warehouse location around the corner on East 12th Street. Another family property, the New York Central Framing Annex, moved from 102 Third Ave. into the warehouse space
in August 2012.