By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — A new discount designer pop-up in TriBeCa doesn't just help shoppers' wallets — it also supports the nonprofit Jewish Community Project Downtown.
JCP's third annual POSH Pop Up Shop, running through Friday, offers markdowns of up to 95 percent on new and gently used merchandise from some of fashion's biggest names. The deals are good: $795 Jimmy Choos for $35, a $1,175 Lanvin dress for $175 and a $2,800 Chanel handbag for $1,200.
"It's retail therapy and public service at the same time," said Mali Sananikone Gaw, a JCP board member who helped organize the pop-up.
A discount table features items costing $20 or less, including Chanel ballet flats, along with Prada and Manolo Blahnik shoes, Gaw said.
Gaw and other JCP members came up with the idea of the pop-up sale during the financial crisis of 2008, when many people were looking to save money on their clothing purchases.
The nonprofit did their first pop-up shop in 2009, and it was such a success that it has become one of the Jewish Community Project's major annual fundraisers. The money supports JCP's classes and holiday celebrations.
Some of the 2,000-plus adult and children's items on sale this year came from JCP supporters' wardrobes, but many were donated by the designers themselves, Gaw said. Volunteers research the items on eBay to make sure the prices are better at the pop-up.
On Monday, the first day the week-long shop was open this year, it raked in $12,000, said Rabbi Darren Levine, executive director of JCP. People came from all over the city, and the pop-up even drew tourists from California, Germany and France, he said.
Levine thinks of the shop as a modern evolution of the classic church rummage sale.
"This is a totally different [version] of the same thing," he said.
JCP's POSH Pop Up Shop will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday at 64 N. Moore St.
