OPENINGS:
Joe the Art of Coffee, which has a rabid following of caffeine hounds, is opening its eighth location and first Upper East Side outpost at 1045 Lexington Ave., between East 74th and 75th streets, on Dec. 23. The shop will have the city's first built-in pour-over bar for those agog over pour-over coffee, which is made in a single cup by slowly and steadily pouring a stream of water to create the perfect brew, rather than making a big batch and letting it seep and drip.
Boutique Mirabelle is closing its shop at 1223 Madison Ave. at East 88th Street and re-opening a few blocks up at 1310 Madison Ave. The 27-year-old shop lost the lease, said its buyer, Nicole, who declined to give her last name. "My customers know me for such a long time, we had to stay here," she said, adding that the new location will carry more couture.
Ankasa, the purveyor of fine luxury bedding and hand-embroidered pillows, opened in November on a recently-renovated stretch of Madison Avenue between East 87th and 88th Streets. The boutique 1200 Madison Ave. joins other luxury retailers including the women's clothing stores Jack Rogers and Joie, J. Crew’s Crewcuts kids store and Margo Manhattan, the jewelry designer who created the original red ribbon lapel pin for AIDS awareness.
Restaurants along the Second Avenue subway construction path continue to turnover with great frequency. A French eatery called Bistro Nora opened in October at 1586 Second Ave., near East 82nd Street. Just a block away, two new restaurants are coming in: China Taste and Sushi.com.
The high-end lingerie store Journelle opened its fourth location at 1266 Third Ave. at East 73rd Street and so far top sellers are Chentelle and Simone Perele T-shirt bras along with Hanky Panky, La Perla and Commando undies, according to Women's Wear Daily via Racked.
City Swiggers has brought a beer shop and tasting room to 320 E. 86th St., which will have more than 400 varieties and 14 beers on tap. "What makes City Swiggers unique, besides its awful name and unexpected location, is the small but comfortable bar," the Village Voice wrote, "which looks like something ripped from a basement rumpus room of a mansion in Teaneck, New Jersey, sans Budweiser posters."
The soap and cosmetics company Sabon opened its latest outpost at 1276 Lexington Ave., near East 86th Street, which Real Deal architecture critic James Gardner called "the loveliest Sabon of all."
The Zurich-based luxe tights shop, Fogal, opened its second Madison Avenue location roughly eight blocks north of its first, according to Women's Wear Daily via Racked. Fogal's new shop at 785 Madison Ave. WWD said the brand is going to expand to SoHo next year.
ON THE HORIZON:
The Little Gym will be converting an 8,000 square-foot parking garage into a physical fitness center for toddlers and children at 207 E. 94th St., Crain's New York Business reported. It will be the chain's second and largest Manhattan outpost when it opens in August.
The first New York flagship for Perrin Paris is opening in the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue between 76th and 77th streets, leasing and sales team of Faith Hope Consolo, Chairman, and Joseph A. Aquino, Executive Vice President of Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Group said.
The House of Perrin, founded in 1893, is famed for its elegant leather gloves, handbags and accessories, often made of crocodile, python and other exotic skins. Joining such neighbors as Christian Louboutin, Berluti, Lisa Perry, Morgane LeFay and Carolina Herrera, Consolo said, "Many will say, 'what took them so long' when this petite jewel opens at the legendary Carlyle Hotel."
Faberge will be moving to 694 Madison Ave., between 62nd and 63rd streets, in the spring of 2012, the company recently announced. The 850-square-foot show room will be the first American boutique for the brand famous for its eggs collected by the Russian imperial family.
