Recently in Shopping Category

The economy has been hitting Smith Street businesses kind of hard--in fact, I'd posit that Court Street, seemingly in an upswing (Watty & Meg, Snack Shack, Enoteca to name a few), is poised to become the new Smith Street--but the effect of the economic hard times, locally, really hit "home" to me when Hasker closed. When I first moved to this neighborhood, Hasker was Zipper, and Hassan and Kerry were store employees and not owners.

I moved to Carroll Gardens without any knowledge of its potential fabulousness as a neighborhood. I took the apartment (overlooking the BQE) because it was cheap, and there was a laundry, coffeeshop and train station within a short walking distance--the three things my New York friends said were essential in a place.

Hasker was one of the first home boutique stores I think I visited in the city, and to me it represented all of the cool things that my New York apartment could be if only I had a better paying job and a better grasp on color coordination. In my frequent return visits to the store, which I treated much like trips to a museum--going in to look, not buy--I became friendly with Hassan and Kerry. I don't remember how it happened, exactly. But next thing I knew, we were friends. Not best friends, but friendly enough to smile, wave and share little parts of our lives whenever our paths crossed.

Then the two employees became owners, named the store an amalgam of their own monikers, and helmed a thriving business. Along the way, I had a baby, Hassan welcomed his baby, Kerry got a Swedish boyfriend (OK a lot more happened), but through it all, I always felt welcome walking through the door to shoot the breeze and occasionally left with a present for a birthday, a card for an anniversary, or, as my purchasing power increased, a new couch.

Today, as the rain poured down, I was sad to think I couldn't hop over to Smith Street and see what the Haskers were up to. It was time, they said, to move on. I'm sure it was, but I'll miss them.

See my post from their opening in 2006.

Yep, the Trader Joe's has its signage up, window washers were out working on the windows and stock was piling up in side room. I say the opening is imminent.

Oh baby. The new Ikea is fun. It's gigantic. It's a baby overstimulation center. And, it's probably going to drain me of more money than I possess. Yeah, it's a bit ugly and bright blue, but it gets my two thumbs up.

Seems like every time I walk down Smith Street something changes. Flirt is no more on Smith Street, which is sad because it was one of my favorite neighborhood boutiques. The location in Park Slope is still active, however, so now I'll just have to schlep myself over to 5th Avenue. In better news, Refinery (a long-time neighborhood stalwart for great purses) is looking quite spiffy in its new space just a few doors down.

Though an equal opportunity religious icons store (saw a few Buddhas), most of the stock seems centered on Latin American Catholic imagry, plus a healthy dose of mysticism. So next to your more traditional rows of Jesus and Mary icons and Catholic prayer candles, there's a whole shelf devoted to a variety of oils that ward away evil and the like. I checked it out on Saturday and then came back for some photos on Sunday (when it was closed, naturally).

Anyway, if you're looking for any religious icons, Columbia Street has your one-stop shop.

I went shopping in Park Slope on Saturday as I hadn't been over there in forever and wanted to check out a different shopping scene. Walking 5th Avenue, I was reminded that a lot of stores in Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill also exist in Park Slope: Soula, Flirt, Lucia. And today, I found out that Flight 001, new to Smith Street, will be opened a store on 5th Avenue in November. Brownstone Brooklyn can now travel with ease. (Now how about bringing a Bierkraft to our side of the neighborhood?)

New Flight 001 location:
58 Fifth Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718.789.1001

Oh how happy I was to see that the East Village's Exit 9 had finally opened a store at 129 Smith Street between Pacific and Dean streets. Exit 9 is one of those stores I discovered in my early days of living in New York (now more than four years ago) and always return to when I need a gift for others (or myself). I once asked the owner why he didn't have a store in Brooklyn, and he replied that rent on Smith Street was more than the rent he was paying to be on Avenue A. Either he got a good deal or decided to get in before the rent shoots even higher. Regardless, now two of my favorite Manhattan gift stores, the other being Flight 001, are now within walking distance. That makes me happy, if my wallet a bit lighter.

It's gotten itself in the New York Times over the proliferation of retail chains (Lucky Jeans, Starbucks, last year's American Apparel). So does this spell the end of chains on Smith due to overexposure? ;)

On Saturday from 11am to 7pm, Design Just Out of Reach is having a sale (10-50% off), that may just put the store's furniture within reach. People who love floor samples take note.

Design Within Reach
76 Montague Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201-3305

This yet unfilled store is on the west side of Smith Street near Douglass, across from Copy Cottage. Its storefront is below.

Also new and open on Smith: Homage at 151 Smith Street (near Bergen), a skate shop in summer with snowboarding gear planned for fall.