LOWER EAST SIDE — The Little Shoe Store can't stand on its feet.
The source for petite women's shoes will close its 40 Clinton St. location on March 31, owner Sydney Pringle confirmed Tuesday. The news was first reported by The Lo-Down.
Until then, everything except new spring items will be 50 to 75 percent off. The store will also continue to sell shoes online, and Pringle said she plans to put together future pop-up sales, to be announced on her website, out of a property she owns in Williamsburg.
Pringle said she made the decision to close about two weeks ago, citing a slow fall season — “Nobody wanted to buy boots,” she explained — and a drop in foot traffic she attributed to a condo construction project several doors down.
The construction forces pedestrians to cross to the other side of Clinton when passing The Little Shoe Store, a change Pringle said has cost her one to two customers a day who otherwise would have noticed her shop and dropped in.
Pringle also noted her annual 5-percent rent increase, which she said is now up to $2,652 per month. She praised her landlord, but said the market cost of her space is “a lot when you’re a niche shoe store.”
From a real estate perspective, the area remains in demand. Two unused retail locations across the street are being advertised by Icon Realty Management at $6,000 per month each.
After originally opening on Orchard Street in 2012, Pringle said she moved to Clinton Street in the spring of 2013. She said that while she’ll miss her customers, she thinks New York is an increasingly challenging location for independent businesses, recalling four nearby operations that have closed in the last two-and-a-half years.
But Pringle pointed out that new stores are still coming in, including Galeria, across the street, a combination restaurant and gallery that opened two weeks ago, where everything, including the space’s furniture, can be purchased.
Galeria owner Jairo Barros said Tuesday that rent is a major concern for all local business owners, but the culture of the neighborhood is worth it.
“This is still an unexplored street of New York City,” Barros said. “You still find people here where the priority is not money.”
