The Curious Shoppers Guide To New York City

This unique guide explores and demystifies the quirky shopping districts of New York City, uncovering fantastic deals and services in fun and unusual locations.

The specialty shopping districts of New York City–devoted to goods as diverse as flowers, designer fabrics, and antique jewelry–are intriguing, sometimes intimidating, yet can provide some of the best shopping in the world. Some offer bargains, others a staggering variety, some pride themselves on customer service, at others-- fuggedaboudit!

With The Curious Shopper’s Guide in hand, you can find yourself–before the sun comes up–buying flowers elbow-to-elbow with the poshest party planners in the city. Then journey down to the Lower East Side where undergarment shops dating from the turn of the century cater to both hard-to-fit customers and the neighborhood’s bustier-wearing hipsters. Author Pamela Keech navigates these quirky enclaves, pointing out the best, the most unique, the wholesalers happy to sell retail, and the personality and protocols of each, along with the fascinating histories of how all of these districts came to be.

The districts described in the guide include: antiques, fabrics (upholstery and dressmaking); lingerie; kitchenware; musical instruments; paper goods, art supplies and printing; buttons, ribbon, and trimmings; mid-century and older antiques; flowers and plants. Each chapter is chock-a-block with dozens of shops, related establishments, and where to eat nearby.

Looking for: A one-of-a-kind French chandelier fashioned from antique forks and spoons? A case of I Love NY paper cups? Vintage linoleum flooring? A custom bridal veil? A case of champagne flutes? A wood-burning pizza oven? Karaoke equipment? An antique copper bathtub? Mid-century Danish art pottery? French ribbon embroidered with Renaissance motifs? Japanese seed beads? New York City has got it all, and thousands more equally exotic and utilitarian items, and The Curious Shopper’s Guide to New York City will tell you where to find them.

PAMELA KEECH is an artist, the consulting curator at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City, and an expert on the material culture of the poor and working classes. She regularly haunts flea markets and antique shops in search of period furnishings for museums and historic houses. She is a Fellow of the American Antiquarian Society and the American Academy in Rome and co-author of The Civilized Shopper’s Guide to Rome. She lives in New York.