Better retail in Harlem is pretty hard to come buy on the fashion end and it appears that another pioneer shop will shutter. We usually give SWING concept shop on the corner of 118th Street a shout out during fashion week for being one of the best Harlem retail boutiques but a tip came in that the store has packed up this past weekend. This was also one of the new shops on ACP during the early years of revival in South Harlem and one of the last ones to stick around for so long. With a new economic diversity now established in Harlem, better retailers should be doing well uptown but ultimately the right marketing and merchandising mix has to be found for this to happen. Initially SWING carried notable collections such as Rick Owens but maybe Harlem is not ready just yet for the extreme high end of the fashion world at this point in time.
with the exception of very few places - maybe 1 hostel turned rental turned condo and 1 or 2 places to eat, lower ACP seems stuck in time for the last 10 years and really hasn't changed at all..
ReplyDeleteI agree about the better marketing recommendation. I live in Harlem and usually shop at high end stores but I had no idea that Swing was so close to where I live. In fact, I am not aware of any high end fashion stores in Harlem..
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear they closed -- I really liked the store. I wonder if it's due to the increasing rents in Harlem. I moved further uptown because of the crazy costs. Before I was on the UWS and saw many mom and pop shops shut down and the places vacant for years. I think it's just greed. Again, so sorry to see them closed.
ReplyDeletePeople really need to walk their neighborhood and know what's around. There's no excuse to live a few blocks away and "have no idea." Swing, like a few other upscale stores that were in Harlem that closed w/in the past 5 yrs (eg. Montgomery, Grandview, N Boutique, B Oyama, Pieces etc.) has been widely profiled in the press, was listed in every publication of E-Harlem, had a corner presence (not eclipsed by a hodge-podge of random business)...
ReplyDeleteShops all over the city that have constant daytime pedestrian traffic are closing. The state of the economy is real folks.
I thank the people at Swing for all that they did & I wish them all the best.
Support our quality businesses in Harlem--they need it.
I am not sure if that was a response directed towards my comment about having no idea Swing was close to where I live, but if so, before judging, please know that I am new to the neighborhood (less than 6 months living here), and yes, I walk A LOT in the area, have been following several blogs and news sources about Harlem ever since I moved, and this is the first time I hear about Swing. I am constantly supporting local businesses in Harlem. I practically don't go to downtown anymore for restaurants, etc, and encourage friends from downtown to come here too.
ReplyDeleteTheir location was the problem. If they had been located on FDB, 116th or Lenox, they would have made it no problem. A store like that needs people to browse frequently. Their location was outside of most people's regular neighborhood shopping pattern so lots of people in the neighborhood don't know they were there.
ReplyDeleteTheir website says that they will be relocating. Hmm? I hope this is the case! Any updates?
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