By no means does this cover the breadth of the retail-laden streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, it’s simply a few shops and spaces at a glance. Truthfully I didn’t have the gall to tug at every shop owner to snap photographs of every one of the 50 some odd shops I stepped foot in. I guess you can say that I saved that for another trip and another post. In the meantime, enjoy a quick glimpse at retail life in New York City.
…Also be sure to scroll down below for our list of the 42 must-visit retail shops in the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn!
Kiosk (above) is one of my favourite semi-secret spots on the streets of SoHo. In it you’ll find just about anything, from old school aluminum sandwich presses to floating hammock swings to grow-a-tree kits. Kiosk travels the globe for quirky things and odd items, and their little store on Spring Street curates a purchasable exhibition of goods.
Meanwhile, on one of our mid-afternoon adventures we were able to visit some fam at the Marc Ecko Cut & Sew offices in Hell’s Kitchen. Art Director, Rex Tanghal and consultant, Vashtie showed us around their digs a little bit. Moodboards, paintings and racks on racks adorned most of the premises. Very interesting to see what’s been cooking up in there on a daily basis. Thanks for letting us come thru!
Another gem that we had the pleasure of visiting was the Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene. We took the train from the East Village and got a little lost, but eventually found the spot safe and sound. This isn’t like your typical flea, it’s packed with amazing food huts and even better booths filled with vintage this and deadstock that. Worth the trip!
After a couple hours at the Flea I dragged the old lady to Williamsburgh. We hopped in a cab to take us to the 2nd floor of 109 South 6th Street, the stomping grounds of Hickoree’s Hard Goods. Such a great looking shop, well laid out and a tranquil hideaway from the regular bustle. Too bad the Hickoree’s fitted cap and Epperson Mountaineering tote I planned to purchase were sold out before I even arrived (insert enlarged unhappy face here).
10 Foot Single by Stella Dallas was a great pitstop for all things vintage. As you can see by the two lonely photographs, I was likely on the hunt for some footwear here. In the store however, they’ve got all kinds of garments from every era imaginable. Highlights had to be seeing old-timer wool baseball jerseys, Schott peacoats, Budweiser tees and authentic navajo print jackets. Likely the most thorough establishment for vintage fiends.
And of course, the obligatory shots of the three incredible Nike establishments in NYC (excluding the Bowery Stadium gallery). Nike is like our security blanket every time we go to a new city. We hit Niketown on 57th and 5th, Nike Running Flatiron and Nike Sportswear at 21 Mercer. A lot of things to salivate over, namely the new ‘Made in Italy’ NSW collection. What can I say, Nike continues to outdo itself time and time again in every department. Don’t get me started on the Lunar Flyknits that I foolishly missed the boat on while I was there. I guess that’s what I get for perusing the streets without 3G data as they “secretly” released one day via Twitter/IG notifications. The worst part about it was that these display photographs below were in fact my size but ‘Not For Sale’. Woe is me.
Behold, our map of the 42 must-visit retail spaces in New York City
Here we compiled a dependable map which is comprised mostly of menswear shops, but also a handful of vintage, stationery, furniture and miscellaneous goods stores. This is just the tip of the iceberg folks, or at least the shops that we found particularly interesting on our trip. We hope this helps you on your potential travels to the Big Apple. Feel free to share your own must-sees and we will gladly add them to the map!
View Retail Spaces, NYC in a larger map