Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. The New York trip this past weekend wasn't great (too many sneakers...long story) but I did get some great pictures, the first set of which I'm sharing below
Here's a uniquely New York chain. Ricky's NYC is the brainchild of a hair and skin guru named Ricky (shocking) that decided to put all his favorite beauty products together in one place. If it's hip or weird, it's at Ricky's. I didn't go in this time, but the sign rocks!
Adidas's New York flagship near Soho store sports this huge sign, but really the whole store building is like a giant advertisement for the brand. The three stripes motif is everywhere including its use as a lighting and architectural feature writ large on both floors of this masive sneaker emporium.
J&R! It's the best electronics store in Manhattan and their mail-order business has been keeping me laced in technology for nearly a decade. The sign is new (and somewhat dated in logo design), but it's a welcome icon to any tech-head.
Kmart stores in urban locations are fascinating. They're a lot like the ones we're all familiar with, but yet there's still something intangibly different about them. This is the Astor Place store near NYU, still rocking the old signage. The store farther uptown at Penn Plaza has been tricked out with the giant K (with 'kmart' under it) signage that's the current logo.
You could call it Macy's cheaper, messy cousin, but really, Century 21 is over and above most off-price stores. This massive emporium of designer castoffs and brand-name bargains is a landmark of lower Manhattan. The sign is weatherbeaten, but it's been through a lot. This store is located acroos the street from Ground Zero.
Louis Vuitton on Fiftth Avenue appears to have a very subtle storefront, but in reality the store is covered in translucent glass stretching up at least four stories that glows at night, and can be seen for blocks. Still, this simple entry door is all anyone needs to get a feel for how cool this place is.
Finally, here's a look at the original Tower Records store on Broadway. For all it lacks in flash, the store makes up for with selection and coolness. The neon just gives a small hint of the treasures inside, which makes it even cooler in its subtlety.
Here's a uniquely New York chain. Ricky's NYC is the brainchild of a hair and skin guru named Ricky (shocking) that decided to put all his favorite beauty products together in one place. If it's hip or weird, it's at Ricky's. I didn't go in this time, but the sign rocks!
Adidas's New York flagship near Soho store sports this huge sign, but really the whole store building is like a giant advertisement for the brand. The three stripes motif is everywhere including its use as a lighting and architectural feature writ large on both floors of this masive sneaker emporium.
J&R! It's the best electronics store in Manhattan and their mail-order business has been keeping me laced in technology for nearly a decade. The sign is new (and somewhat dated in logo design), but it's a welcome icon to any tech-head.
Kmart stores in urban locations are fascinating. They're a lot like the ones we're all familiar with, but yet there's still something intangibly different about them. This is the Astor Place store near NYU, still rocking the old signage. The store farther uptown at Penn Plaza has been tricked out with the giant K (with 'kmart' under it) signage that's the current logo.
You could call it Macy's cheaper, messy cousin, but really, Century 21 is over and above most off-price stores. This massive emporium of designer castoffs and brand-name bargains is a landmark of lower Manhattan. The sign is weatherbeaten, but it's been through a lot. This store is located acroos the street from Ground Zero.
Louis Vuitton on Fiftth Avenue appears to have a very subtle storefront, but in reality the store is covered in translucent glass stretching up at least four stories that glows at night, and can be seen for blocks. Still, this simple entry door is all anyone needs to get a feel for how cool this place is.
Finally, here's a look at the original Tower Records store on Broadway. For all it lacks in flash, the store makes up for with selection and coolness. The neon just gives a small hint of the treasures inside, which makes it even cooler in its subtlety.
Steve, these are great. Can't wait to see more.
ReplyDeleteThis helps motivate me to get my East Coast photos online. I had never been to NYC, Philly, or DC before, and I spent a day or two in each city just walking around taking photos, usually on my own. I've ended up with about 1,000 (including the KOP set), which one of my co-workers rightly said was "pathological." They're not all keepers, but it's going to take some time to narrow them down and sort them. You better believe I have many shots of stores and signs, including the Kmart at Penn Plaza with the "tricked out" new "giant K" logo.
By the by, that may be the first Tower in NYC, but did you know that the very first Tower opened in 1960 inside a drugstore in the hum-drum city of Sacramento, California? I kid you not.
Thanks again for sharing these.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/06/AR2005080600164.html
ReplyDeleteYou didn't happen to make it to the *hip trendy soho* WalMart area in NYC did ya? Once they pitifully fail at being high-end trendy, and pay off all their lawsuits, it is my opinion they will have completely alienated their original (less trendy, not-high-end) customer base and lose beaucoup bucks. And then Target will take over as retail behemoth! MUHAHAHA....
~Carrie =)
Mitch: Did not know that historical fact on Tower Records. Sacramento, huh? Wild.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see your New York photos, too. Your KOP and Woofdfield sets are great!
Carrie: Thanks for the article link. I'm gonna post it on the blog as a Friday or Saturday entry, because it's a great story. I didn't know that Wal-Mart had a cool-hunting operation going on in NYC.
It figures, though. Something's gotta make those guys a little hipper. The Larry the Cable Guy Home collection just ain't cutting it for the non-rural consumer.
I think the sheer size of Wal-Mart and its inability to hire and fire enough employees to keep the place going will be its downfall.
Target will probaly end this decade either as the largest US discount chain or pretty close to it, which will hit Wal-Mart right where it hurts: the bottom line.