By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
EAST VILLAGE — A local fabric store that supplied the raw materials to clothe the East Village’s punks, drag queens and up-and-coming fashion designers is closing after more than two decades on First Avenue.
Village Fabrics, at the corner of East 11th Street, sold everything from buttons and zippers to reams of colorful textiles inside the modest, family-run store.
In recent years, the shop had become popular with college students studying fashion design, said Steven Katz, 35, son of the longtime owners.
But the landlord didn't offer the store owners a chance to renew their lease this year, instead informing them they had to be out by the end of August, according to Katz.
“They don’t care about us or the community,” Katz said, adding that he’s worked in the shop his entire life and that his is the only store of its kind in the neighborhood. “It’s a greed thing.”
A representative of the building's owner, Castle Peak Management, declined to discuss terms of the closure, noting that the landlord is currently considering "several different options at getting that space filled."
Years ago, Village Fabrics catered to the artistic community that flourished in the East Village and gave the neighborhood its bohemian reputation.
“All the rockers and punkers came here for their scraps,” said Miz Margo, a burlesque performer, on Tuesday as she passed through the shop. “But nothing is D.I.Y. anymore because you can buy it online.”
She noted that everyone from musicians to drag performers at the nearby Pyramid Club used to frequent the shop to throw together outfits for their shows.
“Except for burlesque, there isn’t as many people getting done up anymore,” Margo added.
One customer, a decorative-arts consultant who’s been shopping at Village Fabrics for the past dozen years, speculated that Village Fabrics could no longer contend with the few remaining fabric hubs on the Lower East Side and in the Garment District.
“It’s lean times, and it’s sad to see them go, but they weren’t competitive,” said Stephen, 40, an East Village resident, who declined to give his last name.
“It’s sad,” he added. “Everything’s being gentrified.”
Katz, who tried to work with local elected officials to help save his shop, said he couldn’t find another affordable space in the neighborhood, and that the outer boroughs wouldn’t provide enough traffic for his business.
As for the future of the space, the landlord has plenty of options to choose from.
"We’ve had everybody calling us — everything from guitar shops to Turkish delis to men’s European fashion," said Castle Peak's Chris Coppolecchia, adding that the owner would prefer not to bring in a bar or restaurant tenant, but that the option hasn't been ruled out.
"There's nothing that we haven’t considered yet."
Regardless, Katz believes pushing out the mom-and-pop shop will come as a blow to the neighborhood.
“The whole community is going to suffer when we’re not here — we’re the only fabric store left in the East Village,” he said. “It’s just an end of an era, that’s all.”
