The goods & services issue

Best tailors, scent shops, bookstores, subscription flowers, boutiques, modern convenience stores, homewares, MORE

Aug 27, 2024

ABOUT FOUND • Reader Survey

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ABOUT FOUND • Goods & Services

Racked and ready

The internet is teeming with generic recommendations for everyday items sold at faceless stores. At FOUND, we’re focused on high quality (and often correspondingly high cost) products and shopping experiences recommended by real people — from bespoke suits to beguiling scents, subscription flowers to modern convenience stores.

In addition to quality, we care about the intangibles of shopping at a special store or owning something transcendent. With each recommendation, ideally there’s a story involved, offering a window into the role this purchase or experience played in a person’s life (and/or could play in yours). We’re also keen on products and services with a connection to NYC and surrounds.

Here, a sampler of Goods & Services pieces from the past year in FOUND:

GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop

Creative hang

Orchard Street on the Lower East Side is teeming with galleries, vintage stores, bars, restaurants, and stylish shops. One such venue is Colbo, an understated, earth-toned boutique that houses an eponymous clothing line designed by Tel Aviv-born Tal Silberstein and defined by roomy shapes, desert tones, and natural fabrics. Amidst the fashionable racks, though, Colbo is as much a watering hole and hang-out for creatives as it is a store.

In addition to the in-house fashion label, there’s a full-service coffee shop with (very well-dressed) locals floating in and out for cortados and espresso tonics. A turntable plays vinyl records to set the tone as you peruse the clothing — a mix of Colbo, other small designers, and vintage — as well as other treasures, like incense and art books.

On weekends, Colbo shapeshifts into a pop-up venue, hosting a wide range of creatives, from DJs to florists to chefs and beyond — like former Bon App personality Alex Delany on music and cocktails and Win Son on Taiwanese-American bites, or Karla Smith-Brown of OLIVEE Floral arranging bold, dynamic bouquets by the entrance. Follow along on Instagram for updates, or just drop by for an Orchard Street surprise. –Phoebe Fry, 07/30/24

→ Shop: Colbo (Lower East Side) • 51 Orchard St.

See also Nines: Women’s Boutiques and Menswear Nines.

GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shops

Tailor-made

A roundup of the best FOUND subscriber responses to the prompt, “Please tell us your favorite NYC tailors”:

Shopboy (Tribeca): They don’t actually do the work (I think it’s outsourced to seamstresses elsewhere), but they have a clear sense of style and will guide you accordingly. This is a great option if you just want it easy (but it costs more).
Ramon Tailor Shop (Lower East Side): Ramon is amazing at altering and making clothes. He’s made me more than a few pairs of pants. Here you will need to be exacting in describing what you want but the results are great.
Ardian’s Tailor (West Village): It’s in the back of Fellow Barber and nearly impossible to find the first time, a true IYKYK. Please save people from Alts, that awful millennial branded tailor chain I’m seeing pop up everywhere, getting aggressively advertised.
LS Men’s Clothing (Midtown): I get all my MTM suits and shirts from LS Men's Clothing, and I’ve had light tailoring done by them in the past.
Eva Joan (West Village): On Jane Street. They can repair or alter anything, including moth holes in your favorite cashmere sweater. Highly recommend.
Peppinos (Upper East Side): My family has been going to Peppinos by Bloomingdales for over 70 years (!). A bit pricey, but they are excellent.

And requiring further intelligence:

There was a guy, Mitchell Murray, who worked in the back of Elegant Woolens (Singer Fabrics) who could make anything. Just bring him a picture of what you wanted and he could make it, on Orchard Street. But since they are long gone, I lost touch with him and don't know where he is now. 04/02/24

Additions, subtractions, color commentary, Mitchell Murray sighting? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.

GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shops

Chapter and verse

Of all the Ask FOUND prompts in our history, none has elicited as much subscriber joy as “What are your favorite bookstores in the city?” To wit:

“There’s an amazing cookbook store on Greenwich Street, right by Canal, called Joanne Hendricks Cookbooks,” wrote one FOUND subscriber. “It’s open at absolutely random hours and it’s absolutely magical.” Another: “Don’t miss P&T Knitwear, run by Bradley Tusk, with deep connections to its Lower East Side home.” Also on the LES: “Sweet Pickle Books! Books AND pickles, what could be better?” And of course: “Barnes & Noble — but only the Union Square one.”

But no bookstore garnered more recommendations than Three Lives & Co. in Greenwich Village. True to its name, the beloved store closed in 2020 and moved into a temporary space further west while the building was redeveloped. By some miracle, the store returned to its original corner in 2022 without missing a beat.

“Why Three Lives?” emailed a FOUND subscriber. “Because of the people who work there and care so deeply about books, are so well-read, and truly care that their customers find the perfect book, and — year after year — continue to be the same people who work there. No matter how down I feel, when I walk in the door to Three Lives, I immediately feel better. Three Lives restores my faith in our world.”

Here now, for your reading and soul-restoring needs, FOUND’s inaugural Bookstores Nines. 01/16/24

GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines

Bookstores

Corner Bookstore (Upper East Side), tiny shop with tightly edited selection oozing great taste
Argosy (Midtown), a dusty delight, quirky collectible and used finds
Books of Wonder (Chelsea), for new and classic children’s books
Three Lives & Co. (Greenwich VIllage), the perfect neighborhood spot with the loveliest staff
The Strand (East Village), acres of used books, now and forever
Left Bank Books (West Village), for rare books worthy of a celebratory gift
The Mysterious Bookshop (Tribeca), great for its eponymous genre of choice
Books are Magic (Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill), beloved boutiques from author Emma Straub
McNally Jackson (multiple locations), correctly ranked, best to least: Rock Center, Seaport, Soho, Williamsburg

Hit reply or email found@foundny.com with additions and subtractions.

WORK • Tuesday Routine

Baby steps

HARLING ROSS ANTON • writer and brand consultant • Gumshoe
Neighborhood you work in: Upper East Side

It’s Tuesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m usually at my kitchen table. I’ve been working for myself (and therefore at home) since 2020, and while I miss going into an office sometimes, I also love staying in my pajama pants for a bit longer than I’d be able to otherwise and eating my breakfast (oatmeal cooked with whole milk, drizzled with coconut oil and honey) at a less frenzied pace. The scene is — externally — quite peaceful, which is misleading. I’m usually panicking about trying to get as much done as possible while my son takes his first nap of the day.

What’s on the agenda for today?
I just started working again after a six-month maternity leave, and one of the main things on my agenda is the rather daunting task of making my way through the thousands of emails that piled up. The ultimate slog! On the more fun side of things, I publish a weekly shopping newsletter on Substack called Gumshoe, which takes up a big chunk of time every day as I’m sourcing mostly vintage and secondhand links, and I’m very particular about them. I’m also in the midst of a couple of copywriting projects, which have been a nice way of dipping my toe back into the brand consulting side of my work.

What’s for lunch?
Lately my hyperfixation lunch has been the breakfast burrito from Hutch and Waldo, a cute little Aussie cafe in my neighborhood. With lots of Yellow Bird hot sauce.

Any plans tonight?
I’ll probably start prepping things for dinner before my son goes to sleep and then finish cooking with my husband once he’s home from work. I’m making one of our go-to recipes tonight — the Bon Appetit broccoli bolognese. We’re not the best cooks, but this recipe is foolproof, and we’ve made it countless times. We’ve been really into making hot chocolate after dinner recently, so I’ll probably do that for dessert. We received a tin of Flamingo Estate drinking chocolate discs as a gift which makes the process really easy — you just melt the discs in the milk of your choice (I like oat or whole) over the stove. I’m up early every day with the baby, so I’m usually pretty tired at this point, but I try to stay up at least until around 9:45 p.m. to pump before going to bed, so we’ve been (very belatedly) catching up on The Bear’s second season to stay awake. I’m happy to report that it does live up to the hype.

What store or service do you always recommend?
I’ve been recommending Welcome Home, a NYC-based postpartum meal delivery service, to any pregnant person within earshot. Mandela (the owner and chef) runs the whole business out of her kitchen, and cooks the most delicious, nourishing meals.

GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop

A suit of gold

I first discovered The Armoury, a distinguished menswear shop, in Hong Kong around 2011. Upstairs in the Pedder Building, it was a hidden gem, distinguishing itself with its impeccable sartorial selections and knowledgeable, warm service, setting a standard well above the typical Hong Kong suit vendors.

The visionary founder, Mark Cho, has successfully extended his old-school haberdashery approach to New York, opening locations in Tribeca and the Upper East Side. In an era where men's retail in New York has declined, largely due to the rise of e-commerce and casual work-from-home attire, The Armoury continues the art of classic menswear in the city.

Buying choices are exceptional. Of particular note: exquisitely tailored overcoats from Japanese brand Cohérence, a dynamic selection of artisan-crafted shoes by the likes of Yohei Fukuda, ties from Drakes, and a Fox umbrella you’d be upset to forget at Balthazar.

Cho curates from the finest craftsmen globally, from Naples to Japan, offering an experience that justifies his premium pricing. In addition to the inventory on hand, the traveling trunk shows are highlights, with notable appearances by Liverano, crafting bespoke Florentine silhouettes, and Caid, a Japanese tailor known for Ivy League suits that blend modernity with timelessness.

The Armoury's in-house made-to-measure tailoring is also first rate, ideal for suiting and black-tie events. Craft at this level makes a case for the relevance of retail: to touch, feel, and experience items of superb quality remains one of life’s enduring pleasures. –Colin Nagy, 11/21/23

→ Shop: The Armoury, 168 Duane St. (Tribeca) and 13 E 69th St. (Upper East Side).

WORK • Tuesday Routine

Beautiful surprises

TASHA MURESAN • owner & creative director • BLOOM BLOOM
Neighborhood you work in: Greenpoint

It’s Tuesday morning, where are you working?
Tuesdays often function as Mondays for me, especially during wedding season, when my weekends are committed to events (and subsequently deep cleaning my studio). They're like a weekly restart, and I like to begin them on 28th Street at the New York Flower Market whenever I can. I’ll grab an Americano or iced matcha from PPL on my walk with my dog Sonny before I hop in the car and head into Manhattan.

What’s the Tuesday morning scene at your workplace?
I'm usually at the Market to get inspired and see what flowers are trickling in for the week. If I've got a pre-order in the works for whatever event is happening later in the week, I’ll check in on those flowers, then build upon my ideas and existing palette with all the gorgeous unanticipated flowers coming in from all over the world. The surprise flowers you can't plan in advance for are often the most beautiful. I always begin at Dutch Flower Line (for everything special and luxurious) and 28th Street Wholesale (lush and local), but stop in at G Page (orchids and other tropicals) and Jamali Garden (vases and supplies), too. If I'm shopping, like I did this morning, I manage to Tetris all the flower boxes into the back of my old Subaru, and head back to the studio to process and hydrate the flowers, and then begin my workday.

What’s on the agenda for today?
I'm watching flowers I sourced this morning drink and get strong ahead of this weekend's workshop — I teach flower-arranging workshops regularly, and this week's is all about designing with a pin frog to create simple sculptural arrangements using some pretty special spring flowers (the varieties we wait all year for). I'm really excited. I really love sharing flowers in this way, with people who don't get to touch all of these specialty stems all the time, like I do.

What’s for lunch?
Like the proper florist I am, I've already scarfed down a croissant in the car with my first, pre-market coffee earlier this morning. I'll probably need some vegetables later and my standard for a filling, feel-good lunch is anything from Cafe Alula. I really love the avocado, labneh, and za'tar sandwich, to which I always add an egg.

Any plans tonight?
My best friend is in town from California, so we're touring a few of her old Greenpoint favorites tonight. Probably splitting a Genovese pie from Fornino before cozying up at Achilles Heel with some cocktails. Hopefully it'll be chilly enough that they'll still have a fire going and I'll get to order a hot toddy. 04/03/24

See also Nines: Subscription Flowers.