Specialty Shops Comparing East Village and Williamsburg Design At the Edge, Spring 2012 Design Brief Arisara Srisethnil, Ryan Burgam, Kelsey Conophy, Julieta Larriba
May 31, 2015
Specialty Shops
Comparing East Village and Williamsburg
Design At the Edge, Spring 2012 Design Brief
Arisara Srisethnil, Ryan Burgam, Kelsey Conophy, Julieta Larriba
Research Questions
For this mapping project our group decided to work with specialty shops, and how are they
positioned around East Village and Williamsburg.
The first thing that we needed to do for this project was to answer the question: What is a
specialty shop? We looked into the academic definition for this type of shop; a specialty shop
it’s a retail space that offers a specialized type of items of a particular brand or particular
product.
After reading the academic definition, we came out with a different explanation of what a
specialty shop should be. This definition was more appropriate for the type of specialty that
we where researching, and was more adapted to our particular way of seeing a specialty shop.
This is what we agreed on looking when deciding if something was a specialty shop or not:
- The shop should be focused on a particular class of products
- It should only have one standing location
- It shouldn’t have commercial advertising
- It should have a limited selection of products (no more than 5)
After coming out with this definition, we also decided that, for our project, we would be
focusing in only two neighborhoods, East Village and Williamsburg. This two where chosen
mainly for two reasons, the first one, that the two neighborhoods are close to where the
members of the group live, and the second one, the fact that this two neighborhoods are
considered trendy right now, and a lot of young people live on them; the east village is an
older community and Williamsburg is in the process of growing.
Research Methods
Upon determining a definition of what our team considered to be a specialty shop, the next
phase of our project involved an intensive research component. Before stepping out onto the
field, we compiled a survey to give to each of the storeowners/employees that we encountered.
Some of the questions were as follows: How long have you been in business? How old is your
average customer? Why this specific food? Along with the store surveys, the next element of
our research consisted of basic Internet research. By looking over each store’s Twitter
account, review on yelp, and other various sources we were able to get an unbiased, honest
idea as to how customers viewed each of the specialty shops. Following the survey and
research components of our project, each member of the group was responsible for making
thorough observations of the interior/exterior of the specialty shop as well as the area around
each shop. By taking notes and photographs, our team was able to get a sense of the physical
and aesthetic constituents involved with this emerging specialty shop trend.
Throughout our research, the team made a point to look into the various competitors that each
of the specialty shops faced. The competition fell within two basic arenas: Drugs stores and
grocery stores. Compared to the one-of-a-kind, intimate ambiance of the specialty shops, the
team noticed a very sterile, impersonal quality of the competition. For example, the grocery
store, Key Foods used self-checkout machines rather than employees to ring up customers.
Similarly, the staff at Duane Reade was not concerned with greeting customers or sharing
information about the products. By juxtaposing major corporate competitors with mom and
pop specialty shops we were able to discover how the chosen specialty shops utilized
branding, product assortment, and store location to battle such powerful companies.
Stores Visited
East Village
Barnyard
194 Ave C (9th and 10th St) Specialty: Cheese Price Range: $6-25/ lb Open in 2008 @Barnyard Cheese
This cheese shop has a rustic appeal with a clientele of 25-35 year olds, typically in relationships.
Bond St. Chocolate
63 E. 4th St (2nd Ave & Bowery) Specialty: Chocolate Price Range: $10-$50+ Open: 2009 @BondStChocolate
This chocolate shop is inspired by rock and roll, Keith Richards, and is named after the street shop owner, Lynda Stern, used to live on.
East Village Cheese
40th 3rd Ave (9th and 10th St) Specialty: Cheese Price: $1-$15/ lbs Open: 1987 No Twitter
This cheese shop has been in business for 25 years serving a loyal clientele in their 40's and crave affordable cheeses.
East Village Meat Market
138 2nd Ave (9th and St Marks) Specialty: Polish Meat/ Sausage Price Rage: $3-$15+ Open: 1970 No Twitter
This meat shop has been serving the East Village polish meats and sausages for over 30 years. Their established clientele doesn't require branding and exposure via social media.
Good Beer
422 E 9th St (1st Ave & Ave A) Specialty: Craft Beer Price: $10+ Open: 2010 @goodbeernyc
Focusing their product line on artisanal craft beers, this store attracts "hipsters" in plaid who seek quality beer.
Puddin'
102 St Mark Place (1st+ Ave A) Specialty: Pudding Price Range: $4-$55 Open: 2012 (3 months) @puddinNYC
Inspired by her favorite childhood dessert, Clio Goodman's brainchild attracts young people with a sweet tooth.
Russo's
344E. 11th St (1st and 2nd Ave) Specialty: Pasta and Mozzarella Price Range: $3-$30+ Open: 1975 No Twitter
Selling tradition Italian cheeses and mozzarella shows how shop owner's inspiration roots back to their heritage.
Sigmund's
29 Ave B (2nd & 3rd St) Specialty: Pretzels Price Range: $3- $7 Open: 2009 @SigmundPretzel
This shop offers pretzels and a variety of flavors and coffee to wash it down with. The atmosphere attracts students who come to study and snack.
Stogo
159 2nd Avenue (at 10th St) Specialty: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Price Range: $4-$15 Open: 2008 @stogonyc
Serving dairy-free ice cream, this specialty shop attracts younger residents looking for an alternative dessert.
Williamsburg
Bedford Cheese Shop
229 Bedford Ave Specialty: Cheese Price range: $8-30 per oz Opened: 2006 @bedfordcheese
The cheese shop offers quality cheeses to the neighborhood in a quaint and rustic atmosphere. Young professionals are the dominant clienteles.
Breukelen Bier Merchants
182 Grand St Specialty: Craft beer Price range: $5 per pint Opened: 2011 @breukelenbier
Shops offering craft beer shows that consumer habits are shifting towards high quality, traditionally produced beverages.
Depanneur
242 Wythe Ave Specialty: Sandwiches & foreign grocery Price range: $10-45 per item Opened: 2010 @dpanneurbklyn
Although specializing in sandwiches, this store also offers foreign groceries not available at a typical grocery store; this shows the influence of "home" amongst consumers and shop owners.
D.O.C Wine Shop
147 Broadway Specialty: Wine Price range: $30-130 per bottle Opened: 2007 @docwinebar
The large selection of high quality wines attracts young professionals with higher disposable incomes who like fine wins.
Fortunato Brothers
289 Manhattan Ave Specialty: Italian Bakery & Gelato Price range: $3-$10+ Opened: 1977
Customers are loyal to this established store and appreciate the authentic flavors of Italy.
Gourmet Guild
110 Broadway Specialty: Local Goods Price range: $8-20 Opened: 2012 (4 months) @GGaGOGO
Offering a larger selection of foods, this store is unique in that all products are from local growers and producers.
Marlow & Daughters 95 Broadway Specialty: Meat (butcher) Price range: $8-15/ lb Opened: 2008 @marlowndaughter
The sister store of restaurant Marlow & Sons, this butcher shop attracts diners from the restaurants and locales.
Mast Brothers Chocolates
111 North 3rd St Specialty: Chocolate Price range: $7-15/ bar Opened: 2012 (3 months) @mastbrothers
Brothers Michael and Rick opened this shop because of their passion for hand crafted quality chocolates. The branding of the store reflects the favorite memories they shared sailing the sea.
Radish
158 Bedford Ave. Specialty: prepared foods Price range: $4-13 Opened: 2010 @radishnyc
The store specializes in home made/ prepared dishes that customers can pick up to heat and eat at home.
Smorgasburg
Waterfront btw N 6th St & N7th St Specialty: Local artisanal foods without store locations Price range: $6-15 per item Opened: 2011 @smorgasburg
This "shop" is special in that there is no physical location. This food festival is a meeting ground for al local artisanal food vendors who do not have standing store locations.
Spuyten Duyvil
218 Bedford Ave Specialty: Rare beers & Local food
Price range: $7-25
Opened: 2007
Shops offering rare beer shows that consumer habits are shifting towards high quality, traditionally produced beverages.
Results
From this study, we found some similarities and some differences between the East
Village and Williamsburg. To begin, we found that specialty shops in the neighborhoods had
existed for 20 years or more, or less than 5 years. We believed this was because the older
stores were able to afford the rent prices in these neighborhoods that had become “hip”, and
thus more expensive, as they had probably stabilized their rent years ago at a lower, more
manageable price. As for the newer stores, we found that they had replaced many different
kinds of stores before them that had gone out of business because of said high rent prices.
We also found that though the shops in the EV and WB were located depending on
rent prices, it seemed that the shops in the EV were located in areas where there was the
cheapest rent. We concluded that because there is such a dense population in the EV and
Manhattan, the shops only needed to focus on finding the cheapest available rent, rather than
finding the customers. In WB however, because Brooklyn is a much larger area, and much
less densely populated, the shops had to follow their customers. The new WB shops were
actually in fairly high rent zones, which we believe indicated that they need to be located near
their customers, rather than where the rent is cheapest. We also found that the shops in WB
were located in clusters, near major hubs of transportation, such as the JMZ Marcy Ave stop,
and the Bedford Ave L stop. The East Village shops however, tended to be spread out more,
and didn’t really fall into any patterns or groups. Once again, this supports our idea that in the
EV, it is more about finding the cheapest way to do business and win customers by remaining
spread out from competition, whereas in WB, because of the larger geography, the shops must
be located in clusters in order to attract enough customers, in a more collaborative fashion.
These conclusions support our findings that for newer shops, branding and social
media presence is also huge aspect, as they must do much to win over customers and prove
their products are worth their significantly higher prices. The older shops however, don’t have
to rely on branding or marketing, as they already have a solid base of customers that trust
their products.
Another interesting finding we discovered, was the fact that most of the specialty
stores in WB are what we called “necessary pantry item” shops. Their products were more in
accordance with what people would use on a regular basis (though not always necessary
pantry items, and higher priced). The customer bases at the WB shops were more consistent,
and loyal, and tended to be repeat customers throughout the week or month, depending on
the shop. The EV shops though, were more “occasional item” shops, in a way, more
superfluous luxury items than gourmet pantry staples, as was the case in WB. The customers
of the shops in the EV tended to be one time buyers, or very irregular, rather than repeat
customers.
Maps of East Village
Maps of Williamsburg
Map of East Village and Williamsburg
Evaluation of Results
Our research allowed us to compare and contrast shop owners' sources of inspiration. Like Keith Richards or Alexander McQueen, these specialty shop owners were inspired by past experiences rooting close to home.
One shop in the East Village, Bond Street Chocolate is not located on Bond St. but on 4th Street. However, momtreprenuer and former pastry chef, Lynda Stern explains that her 2009 store is named after the street she used to live on. Her love for boozy chocolates was inspired by her career as a pastry chef. Her famous skull truffles are inspired by Keith Richards.
Another shop, Puddin' the 3 month old brainchild of Clio Goodman, a British born, Ohio raised pastry chef was also created thanks to her life long passion for food and pastry. Upon leaving the pastry team at Union Square Café and becoming a personal chef, she decided to focus her new career on her favorite childhood treat. "The idea for a pudding-centric dessert shop took shape after a friend requested one of his favorite childhood treats, butterscotch pudding. As a child, Clio also relished the simple pleasures of a batch of homemade pudding, and she was able to take it to a whole new level."
Childhood memories and the home aren't only influential amongst newer shops. Both East Village Meat and Russo's Pasta and Mozzarella have been around since the 70s and 80s. These shops were open and inspired by family traditions rooting back to home countries. Polish meats and sausages and Italian cheeses and pastas are cultural and ritualistic foods. Opening shops to provide the neighborhood with traditions from home shows that inspiration is sourced from what one is familiar with. Passion is also a determining factor in the longevity of each business.
In Brooklyn, Mast Brothers Chocolates' branding is inspired by their love of sailing, the sea and childhood memories of sailing together. The ingredients, flavor combinations, packaging of their chocolates, and the décor of the store all relate back to the brothers' passion for the ocean. The brothers are inspired by "childlike curiosity" while crafting chocolate using traditional and ritualistic methods of the Aztecs in a new way.