BABY GAP on 5th Avenue
I just saw this...
I didn't know that the Salvation Army was gone...
Is this really happening??
brooklyn industry, american apparel and GAP..what's next?
http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.typepad.com/only_the_blog_knows_brook/
I didn't know that the Salvation Army was gone...
Is this really happening??
brooklyn industry, american apparel and GAP..what's next?
http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.typepad.com/only_the_blog_knows_brook/
Comments
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It was only a matter of time.
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Guest was me.
I forgot to log in. -
On Fifth Ave . . . in the South Slope . . . incredible . . .
I read it on Curbed, who read it on Onlytheblogblahblahbklyn . . .
so sad
For me a Baby Gap is hugely different than Brooklyn Industries, which is at least a homegrown phenomenon whose t-shirts and bags I like. -
Not knowing enough about Brooklyn Industries, I just went to their website. I like much of the design but $96 for a pair of jeans?! :shock:
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but a lot of people in the neighborhood will be well-served by the Gap's great cheap nice-quality basics for kids. The tots can't be wearing precious, ironic, self-referential clothes all the time! Sometimes you just need that "3 pairs of cotton socks for $10" special. -
know this is an unpopular opinion
Don't assume that. I am sure a Baby Gap at this spot will be very popular. -
I think citizen jane was referring to the disconnect between people's stated view of the Gap ("UGH!") versus the fact that pretty much everyone caves in and buys socks and t-shirts there. Particularly for babies, who have a tendency to spit up more often than your average hipster adult, cheap cotton clothes make a lot of sense.
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What she said.
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The fact that "Baby Gap" is coming to Park Slope is cringeworthy and a tad unsurprising. Doesn't that stretch of 5th Avenue have a "Cookies" kids shop? It's actually a perfect match for the neighborhood on that side.
And Brooklyn Industries.
Yes, Brooklyn Industries is a local phenomena that sells jeans made in China for $90+. Much better than a big conglomerate selling jeans made in China for $90+.
Also, their "Community Citizenship" credo:
"Contribute positively to the communities around our stores, operate with integrity and responsibility."
Doesn't add up to much. Outside of hosing down the street in front of their stores and cleaning up their windows, thei major 'community' contribution appears to be adding the word 'BROOKLYN' to a line of clothing.
I think I'll start the "Helpful Clothing Company". And repeat the phrase 'helpful' as much as possible. -
EmilyM wrote: I think citizen jane was referring to the disconnect between people's stated view of the Gap ("UGH!") versus the fact that pretty much everyone caves in and buys socks and t-shirts there. Particularly for babies, who have a tendency to spit up more often than your average hipster adult, cheap cotton clothes make a lot of sense.
Once Starbucks metastasizes to a neighborhood, it's inevitable that a Gap will follow (and vice versa). They're both convenient commodities that detract from the individual character of a neighborhood. I'm as guilty as anyone of patronizing these places- they make it too easy. On the other hand, I'd think that people's need for cheap cotton clothes could have been satisfied at the Old Navy (part of the Banana Republic/Gap/Old Navy megacompany). -
"Does the man who makes the shoes own you, clown?
You can't even pry the nameplate off, now can you?
Fix it with your tiny fist there
James Van Der Beek and them sisters from Sister, Sister
The only one that's ever felt this is you
The force that's forcing you
To feel like busting up a Starbucks."
-Mike Doughty, Busting Up a Starbucks -
I now shop at Old Navy instead of Gap in part because of price, but mostly due to "size inflation," I am now a size XXS or "zero petite," which Old Navy and Banana Republic usually offer and Gap usually doesn't. :roll: :evil: And there is an Old Navy up at the Atlantic Center. Still, I think it must've been a calculated move that they're putting in a BABY Gap and not a regular one. It's probably a small space and they're envisioning people either buying gifts or making quick purchases for convenience's sake.
I'd prefer to do my Gap/Old Navy shopping in a mall rather than on the interesting shopping streets in Brooklyn, but once that Aerosoles opened on 7th Ave., I stopped being surprised by this kind of thing.
Edited to remove extra words. -
Did you know that Gap and Old Navy are the same company? :?
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I do, and Carnivore mentioned it above. But Old Navy and BR offer different sizes than Gap does. I have no idea why. Once I even wrote them a letter to complain about Gap's sizing in comparison to Old Navy's, and they sent me back a form letter saying that they were glad that Old Navy's product met my needs so well. Um, that wasn't my point?!
Seriously, size inflation/vanity sizing is a huge gripe of mine. It's even afflicting women's shoes now; I bought a pair of shoes this weekend that are a full size smaller than what I consider my usual size to be. It's only a matter of time before I have to wear children's clothes or sew my own. -
I used to be a fan of Banana, but that was when I was skinny... er. They don't make husky sizes... :?
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EmilyM wrote: It's only a matter of time before I have to wear children's clothes or sew my own.
Camel-hair sacks work well for me, especially when i'm feeling the need to live in the desert, grow a beard and get biblical. -
nybt wrote: I used to be a fan of Banana, but that was when I was skinny... er. They don't make husky sizes... :?
So true! :evil: -
EmilyM wrote: size inflation/vanity sizing is a huge gripe of mine. It's even afflicting women's shoes now
i've noticed this too. how bizarre. -
Oh, sorry I skimmed and missed that. Uneven sizing among clothing manufacturers is a very sore point with me, especially since I own a boutique! I started sending things back a few years ago if they were cut too small for any normal woman who's not childsized, and most Brooklyn women are not. Stay away from clothing made in France! A "large" dress a few years ago was too tight for a customer of mine who is a size 4. Back it went. :evil:
Every manufacturer has their own, inhouse sizing chart that has nothing to do with anyone elses. There is no universal standard. ON's cuts are a bit looser, I'm a size 4 there :-> Banana Republic says I'm an 8. :-<
Important to try on, and just disregard the stated size. Learn how to eyeball what will fit you. Makes it hard to shop unline unless you're familiar with a companies standard cut, and you know it works for you. -
sje wrote: Oh, sorry I skimmed and missed that. Uneven sizing among clothing manufacturers is a very sore point with me, especially since I own a boutique! I started sending things back a few years ago if they were cut too small for any normal woman who's not childsized, and most Brooklyn women are not. Stay away from clothing made in France! A "large" dress a few years ago was too tight for a customer of mine who is a size 4. Back it went. :evil:
it changes within a company, too. at BR, for instance, I fluctuate between a size 12
Every manufacturer has their own, inhouse sizing chart that has nothing to do with anyone elses. There is no universal standard. ON's cuts are a bit looser, I'm a size 4 there :-> Banana Republic says I'm an 8. :-<
Important to try on, and just disregard the stated size. Learn how to eyeball what will fit you. Makes it hard to shop unline unless you're familiar with a companies standard cut, and you know it works for you.
and a size 16 (more correct). but sometimes a 16 is cut too small. sometimes a size large fits me, and I swim in the xl, other times the xl is obscenely snug. I am a firm believer in trying everything on pre-purchase. -
sje wrote: I started sending things back a few years ago if they were cut too small for any normal woman who's not childsized, and most Brooklyn women are not. Stay away from clothing made in France! A "large" dress a few years ago was too tight for a customer of mine who is a size 4. Back it went.
Ah, but see, we have reverse gripes. You should keep the tiny clothes and sell them to me. I don't like vanity sizing because it causes manufacturers to continually label larger clothes with smaller sizes, until they just stop making the smaller clothes. I can no longer wear even the smallest size at J. Crew (not that I like J. Crew that much) or the Gap. Bear in mind, I used to wear a 4 or maybe a 6 at the Gap when I was in high school (and shopped there more). Then I was a 2. I wasn't sure what would happen after that, but they came up with a new size, 0. I've even seen 00 at some stores, which is silly, but preferable to just giving up on making my size entirely. It's not like I'm that freakishly small, either.
This has been going on for a long time. When I sew myself clothes from vintage patterns, I'm a size 12. (Tell that to the next person who repeats the ridiculous canard about how Marilyn Monroe was a size 16! She probably was, but that doesn't mean what they think it does.) At some point sizes were intentionally rejiggered, so that I am a size 6 in patterns from the '80s or so (not that I sew those). Now the sizes are just freely slipping and sliding around. When I went shopping for wedding dresses, which still use semi-normal sizes, there were signs all over the place urging brides not to freak out if they tried on dresses that were four sizes bigger than their "normal" size.
PS. I should probably split and move this topic, but I have no idea where... -
EmilyM wrote: Ah, but see, we have reverse gripes. You should keep the tiny clothes and sell them to me. I don't like vanity sizing because it causes manufacturers to continually label larger clothes with smaller sizes, until they just stop making the smaller clothes. I can no longer wear even the smallest size at J. Crew (not that I like J. Crew that much) or the Gap. Bear in mind, I used to wear a 4 or maybe a 6 at the Gap when I was in high school (and shopped there more). Then I was a 2. I wasn't sure what would happen after that, but they came up with a new size, 0. I've even seen 00 at some stores, which is silly, but preferable to just giving up on making my size entirely. It's not like I'm that freakishly small, either.
you'd have great luck in european stores (in europe - I think the ones here tinker with their sizes). a woman who wears a US size 8 (at BR or Gap) is an XL at a lot of stores over there. also, a few friends of mine who are in similar situations to yours have started shopping online at websites for US branches of Asian stores (the actual stores are in the LA and SF areas of CA) or shopping in the stores themselves if they live in those areas. these stores apparently carry a lot of various sizes within the smaller size range.
PS. I should probably split and move this topic, but I have no idea where... -
While many lament the "mallification" of local shopping, local bizs often make it so easy. Take Starbucks for example, while their Espresso is barely passable - it is still FAR better then the swill they sell at Ozzies (and many other local coffee shops) - yet Ozzies will be the 1st to bemoan their fate when a Starbucks opens nearby (as happened in Brooklyn Heights and 7th ave). It doesnt take a multinational Corp. to figure out how to pull a decent shot - just a little effort.
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EmilyM wrote: It's not like I'm that freakishly small, either.
Zara cuts very small. If you slim hips, that place is a goldmine, and the prices aren't bad. -
Friendlypitbull, hear, hear! I have gotten so sick of the Park Slope merchants' attitude that people have a moral obligation to "buy local," without feeling that the local businesses have an obligation to provide service and quality equalling their competitors. I'm delighted to support, and even pay a premium for, local businesses that provide a good product and service (say, A&S Pork Store or Zuzu's Petals). But I have no qualms about staying away from mediocre businesses or ones with poor service -- no local business is entitled to my money just because they're local.
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Local/small/family owned shops will always have a place in NYC. Everytime a Starbucks or a Gap opens people bemoan the loss of character of a neigborhood. Someone PLEASE explain to me how the Salvation Army store added to the character of this strech of 5th Ave?
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Jamzer wrote: Someone PLEASE explain to me how the Salvation Army store added to the character of this strech of 5th Ave?
b-but those were your neighbors' things for sale in there? :P -
Jamzer wrote: Local/small/family owned shops will always have a place in NYC. Everytime a Starbucks or a Gap opens people bemoan the loss of character of a neigborhood. Someone PLEASE explain to me how the Salvation Army store added to the character of this strech of 5th Ave?
When I first moved back to NYC in 2000, the last stragglers of the dot-com boom were waning. They either meandered aimlessly around the 'hood and would trudge through the racks of the thift stores in the 'hood.
Man, the Inside.com and Salon staffers I saw! (No joke).
But what was really great--in a sad way--was the tons of great tech gear people were dumping before moving out of the city. The routers I got for $10 a pop were sweet. And the eBay resale value for the stuff I didn't need was sweet as well. Also, the whole machines people simply dropped off without formatting the drives. Ahh, the memos of parties long past! (Seriously as well).
Thrift stores are a part of a community as much as anything else. Can't deny it and always appreciate it.
If the one on Atlantic Avenue between Nevins and Bond closed, that would be a very sad day. -
linusvanpelt wrote: Friendlypitbull, hear, hear! I have gotten so sick of the Park Slope merchants' attitude that people have a moral obligation to "buy local," without feeling that the local businesses have an obligation to provide service and quality equalling their competitors. I'm delighted to support, and even pay a premium for, local businesses that provide a good product and service (say, A&S Pork Store or Zuzu's Petals). But I have no qualms about staying away from mediocre businesses or ones with poor service -- no local business is entitled to my money just because they're local.
Forget Ozzie's, they have slipped into muddy blech.
Now Gorilla Coffee on Fifth Ave, it's the best and they roast the beans in Sunset Park. I agree that the local places have to carry their weight.
Here's a shout out to the obvious . . .
the monster chains push out good small biz and leave you with only Walmart to shop at. Or in the Slope, Barnes and Noble. Yes I know the Community Bookstore. I miss Booklink.
Didn't Brooklyn Industries start as an artist collective in W'burg? -
Thrift stores are a part of a community as much as anything else. Can't deny it and always appreciate it.
The only downside to a thrift store being replaced by a Baby Gap is the loss of shopping opportunities for low income residents. IMHO a store like a Walmart would provide much greater selection at lower prices (based on what I've seen at both). The crappy thrift store is just that - crap. It adds nothing to the neighborhood. Just to be clear - I don't think a Baby Gap or a Walmart for that matter would bring much to the neigborhood either. All I am saying is that this nostalgic longing for the good old neighborhood thrift store is just plain silly.
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