RIP Rizzoli, J&R Music, Pearl Paint
 

Three iconic Manhattan retailers announced this week that they have closed, or will be closing shortly. Shakespeare& Co. also seems to be in danger.



http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/ny...quel.html?_r=0


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/11/ny...&rref=nyregion

I'm amazed at J&R. I though at least here there would be enough people who want to check things out and buy them live.

The bookstore story - well I'm always reminded of one of the original Star Trek episode in which Kirk has a (gasp!) real paper book - which was unknown to anyone else. (I'm the same luddite - I can;t read books electronically - hard to cuddle up in bed with a Nook.)

Me, too. Although I can buy the gadgets online, I went to the store to buy some appliances, phones, etc. Staff always helpful and very knowledgeable.

A few more steps along the route to a bland, could-be-anyplace retail scene: More international luxury chain stores, interspersed with banks, chain drugstores, and nail salons.

The owner of Pearl Paint, has had legal and financial problems over the years. Very often you could not find commonly used items on the shelves, and if you asked the staff, they would attribute it to a cash flow problem. Although it was a shade more expensive and the stores are always in disarray, we go to Utrecht. We also go Blick which is fine and Friedman which is well-organized but even more money

As for J & R, I worked downtown for thirty years and hated going into J & R. The staff was condescending and the return policy was onerous. After 9/11 I went to J & R after they re-opened as part of my patriotic duty and they still made it a miserable experience. Still I am surprised it went out of business.

And I will ask the my usual question to all those who lament the closing of NY store restaurant, "When was the last time you went there?"

Rizzoli's is the same story of developers with power and money.

Ok, the only one I've been to recently (last 6 months) is J&R.

But, still.

I weep. For paper books and vinyl records.

Remember Tower Records on Broadway near Houston St?


Blast from the past.



Thin

Colony Records in Times Square had an extensive sheet music section.

I remember Sam Goody.

Remember Fiorucci on East 59th Street near Bloomimgdale's?

Remember Parioli Romanissimo?


Thin

I had the cutest overalls from Fiorucci. That was a long time ago.

I believe the RIP for Rizzoli's is temporary.

Rizzoli's will move, but it is unclear whether they will be able to take the window and the paneling with them.

J&R isn't folding. It has closed its store for redevelopment (and it still has an online presence).

That said, although J&R was convenient to me (half-way between work and home), I much prefer Adorama (18th and 6th) for electronics.

Ah so! The sky is falling, except it's not: two of the three stores RIP'ed in the title are not actually dead.

I remember a lot of stores that are no longer with us, too, as did my parents, and my grandparents, and all the generations before them. I bet even cave men sat around grunting "Remember that guy who used to barter bone toothpicks in the shadow of the big rock? Gone!"

And yet the average person in the developed world has more selection online than s/he could have accessed in an entire lifetime pre-Internet, and best of all: no one needs to spend their vacation in New York running from store to store searching for that book/record/appliance/scarf/you-name-it that's been on their shopping list for years. You can spend your in-person time on that which really should be seen in-person.

I do like Adorama, but I have been shopping at B & H since they were on 16th St and they have adults who assist you who sell you what you want, rather than what they know.

I was unimpressed with Pearl Paint a year ago. The Sam Flick store in Atlanta is much better.

Palmetto

There it is either Sam Flax or Dick Blick, but I never heard of Sam Flick.

Sounds like a dirty limerick.

There are also a few Sam Flaxs in Manhattan.

Yes it was Sam Flax, I guess I was trying to force a merger with D.BLICK. Incidentally I had to abbreviate the first name b.c. autocorrection wants to change it to Duck.

We also like Friedman's and Utrecht in Manhattan, even though Utrecht often looks like a mess.