‘Cheating’ on my Retail Therapist
After a saleswoman harassed me, I decided to shop online
My next purchase is a mouse click away.
As much as I like to support New York City businesses and their salespeople who rely on commissions—especially now, when everything is on sale—I don’t think I should be made to feel uncomfortable, guilty or awkward while spending my money. I realize that Manhattan is a competitive place even in a good economy, but when two sales associates almost threw down in my (formerly) favorite Madison Avenue store, I decided to rethink my mode of buying.
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Summer Scoops You Can’t Resist
By Joy Sherwood
Grom
2165 Broadway, 212-362-1837
There are plenty of places to get gelato in the city, but none compare to Grom, the shop that first opened its doors in Italy before coming to New York. The gelato is made from the freshest ingredients, the best fruit possible and has no artificial additives. Grom has also gone green, replacing plastic products with biodegradable spoons, retail and garbage bags. Their unique flavors change monthly and may range from Tiramisu to yogurt to pistachio.
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Local Summer Steals You Can’t Resist
By Joy Sherwood
Aroma Espresso Bar
161W. 72nd St.
212-595-7700
This Israeli chain of espresso bars prepares everything on site and to order, with coffee being their specialty. One of their specials is the Bureka, which is a Bulgarian pastry filled with feta, hard-boiled egg, tomato, tahini and pickles. Their chai tea latte, hot or cold, is one of the best in town, and on Thursday nights you can enjoy wine and beer on their roof deck in addition to various musical performances.
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Magic Carpet Ride
Shopping on Ambien reaps unexpected rewards
By Susan Braudy
Gentle reader, I’m a late night shopper. The computer’s a magic carpet that flies me to Osaka, Kyoto and other parts of the faraway country of Japan. I can almost hear Joe Weintraub snoring next to me as I journey. He’s thankfully unable to protest my taste in world-class designs, woven on antique silk kimono fabric. The patterned treasures I look at are “un-picked” from the kimonos by Japanese women who love the forest, Shibori and ocean wave patterns as much as I do. Read more
RETAIL REPORT
Although many of the “mom-and-pop” stores that previously lined the West Side’s commercial strips have closed, some new chain stores have opened up in the neighborhood.
Michaels Arts and Crafts and discount clothing store TJ Maxx recently opened in the new mixed-use residential development Columbus Village, on Columbus Avenue between West 97th and 100th streets. And the old Circuit City location, at 2232 Broadway and West 80th Street, saw life this Halloween season as a costume and decorations store. A spokesman for the Friedland Properties, the building’s owner, said no lease has been signed for a new store but several proposals are being discussed.
A Few of My Favorite Things
I love summer, a time when I forcibly inject hedonism into my hectic life. I desert John Stuart Mill and even Woody Allen, who believe pleasure is merely the absence of pain.
Afternoons I enter Central Park at Sixth Avenue and start breathing pure air deeply. A cardinal and his red-crested wife fly by. A chubby raccoon lolls, his flesh hanging over a tree branch, high above the soothing waterfall.
Besides Central Park, shopping in the marketplace city can be free. Read more
Extreme Grocery Shopping
“You can get through life with bad manners, but it’s easier with good manners.” I can’t remember who said this, but I know one thing: they never shopped at Fairway Market at 6 p.m. on a Sunday.
I’ve lived on the Upper West Side, off and on, for nearly 15 years. And I’ve always thought that a visit to Fairway, on Broadway at West 74th Street, would be a great litmus test to determine if someone has what it takes to live in New York City. The store’s motto—“Like no other market”—is catchy and accurate. But a better slogan, one that gets to the heart of the Fairway shopping experience, would be “Watch your back, and for god’s sake, keep moving!” Read more
Attacked While Shopping
A man was attacked on the northeast corner of Broadway and West 79th Street on May 3 at 1:50 p.m. Police said the 22-year-old man, who lives on Amsterdam Avenue, was shopping near that corner when someone stabbed him twice in the face with an unknown object. The perp fled.
GIFT GUIDE!: BUY IT ON BROADWAY
My family uses the German word “stadtbummel” (city stroll) to mean “We’re wandering in and out of stores on a whim.” Whatever you choose to call it, a stroll along Broadway at this time of year is a handy way to pinpoint gift ideas for every man, woman and child in your life.
Let’s bummel over to Lincoln Plaza Cinemas (1886 Broadway between 62nd and 63rd), the go-to theater for anything interesting on the Upper West Side, and pick up a slim yellow and blue gift certificate booklet ($20) for Christopher the cinephile. The chocolate chip cookies ($1.95 each) at Breadsoul Café (30 Lincoln Plaza) are an addiction for Roger, who works long hours at the West Side Y on 63rd Street. He gives them as gifts to co-workers to munch on during the stressful holiday crunch. Read more
