Rue St. Denis To Close After 25 Years

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The longtime vintage clothing store Rue St. Denis is closing this month after 25 years in business, the store's owners announced on Facebook.

The clothing shop, located at 170 Avenue B, has long been a destination for costume designers looking for a period-specific clothing for television shows and movies and vintage shoppers searching for outfits of a bygone era. The store, named after the street in Paris, features clothing from the 1950s to the 1980s, and is known for it's men's suits.

Rue St. Denis is not closing because of a rent hike or dip in business, its owners told the New York Times, but because the owners are seeking a change of pace. Dozens of small East Village business have shut their doors in recent years as the neighborhood has become gentrified and storefront rent prices have skyrocketed.

Co-owner Jean-Paul Buthier, 55, told the Times that he still remembered the grittier East Village neighborhood of years past.

"Right on the corner, by the lamppost," Bonechi said of drug dealers doing business on the corner of Avenue B and 11th. "They’d sell and then they’d come in the shop. Anything that glittered, they'd say, 'I want that! I want that!'"

The store first opened on the Upper West Side in 1990 before moving to Alphabet City in 1993.

Katie Irish, a costumer designer for the television show "The Americans," told the Times that Rue St. Denis was essential to building the show's wardrobe.

"Honestly, I don’t know how we would have done the show without them," she said. "The majority of men’s suits you see on 'The Americans' were purchased from Rue St. Denis. We spend a lot of time with the F.B.I. Those suits have to come from somewhere."

On Monday, the store launched a 70 percent off sale for its remaining merchandise. You can read the Times' full piece here.

Image credit: Courtesy of Google Maps