The owners of Against Nature, from left: Amber Doyle, Ryan Matthew, Jake Mueser and Simon Jacobs. More Photos >
SELF EDGE is the name of a good-looking store on Orchard Street that opened in July. It sells classic examples of American work-wear, like chambray shirts, that are produced in Japan with old American machines and the deadstock of American button and zipper makers. With the geeky solemnity of a rare seed catalog, the store’s Web site declared of Flat Head, one of its lines: “Probably the finest construction ever seen on button-down shirts.”
You can almost picture a group of guys in Tokyo or Osaka trying to get the exact specifications of a 1950s boondocker shirt from Sears, but that is not what is interesting about Self Edge. What is interesting is that it’s there at all.
The pattern of the recession has been to close stores, lay off workers and reduce inventories to a bare nub of excitement. Pop-up stores have lent a small thrill to the scene, but pop-up stores reflect a weak economy; otherwise, landlords would have those spaces rented to the hilt.
But nothing quite conveys the confusion and sense of retail sclerosis as the high-end ladies boutique, lights on and empty, its owner selling the same six fabulous designers as everyone else, the same droopy China-made knit that shouldn’t cost $600 but somehow does, and not a chance, barely a glimmer of hope, that enough customers will care to buy something.
Inevitably, new stores open. Here in New York there is an abundance of retail space, real estate experts say. Rents are 20 to 40 percent lower than a year ago, and landlords are often willing to give better terms, like longer leases. But is there a vision behind these stores? Do they reflect a world altered not only by a recession but also by the reach of the Internet and new attitudes about consumption, quality and usefulness? Read More...
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