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CENTURY 21
Dowtown New York's discount fashion paradise bounces back
 
Illustration by Virginia Johnson
When my friends come to visit," says
Ruth Tennenbaum, "they make a beeline for it, sometimes straight from the
airport." Tennenbaum is a Newsweek reporter and Canadian expat who's lived
in New York for 11 years. The "it" she's referring to is Century 21,
the discount department store whose flagship location, at 22 Cortlandt Street in
Manhattan, stood, like Sprout to the Jolly Green Giant, directly across the
street from the World Trade Center -- until Sept. 11, when it was damaged by
falling debris. Now, after five and a half months and an estimated US$10-million
refurbishment, the store is open once again. Michael Bloomberg, the New York
Mayor, presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 28. The
first customers were let in at 11:00. By 12:30 p.m., the doors had to be closed
because the four-storey-high, city-block-wide store was filled to capacity.
Before the terrorist attacks on the WTC
caused water damage in the store's basement, broke the windows, ruined the
floors and covered the merchandise in a devilish layer of soot, the Cortlandt
Street Century 21 was considered a fashion mecca. This is not hyperbole: For any
visitor who cared about fashion or even just about shopping, Century 21 was as
much of a New York destination as the Prada Store designed by Rem Koolhaas is
now. For many New Yorkers, Century 21 -- not the World Trade Center or the
financial district -- epitomized downtown; it was the only reason they went
there. Now, judging by the store's iconic shopping bags -- clear plastic
emblazoned with the jaunty cursive logo -- dotting the streets since the
reopening, it's the thing that's bringing them back. The Gindi family, who own
the store, haven't released sales figures, but say they are "very, very
pleased."
Century 21 is able to sell current or
half-season-behind designer merchandise (sheets, towels, and men's, children's
and women's clothes) for 40% to 70% off. They have the good ones: Prada, Alberta
Ferretti, Celine, Paul Smith, Ghost, Martin Margiela. The store's buyers know
what they're doing. (Century 21 buys its stock in bulk, at a discount from
manufacturers after the regular department stores have made their full-price
picks.)
But shopping there is torture. You have to
brave dressing stalls sans doors and cellulite-interrogation lighting, and a
five-item limit means standing in a grueling line three or four times before
getting through your hoard. You're often confronted with an item you bought
full-price elsewhere, now steeply discounted. (At the reopening, I saw a Marc by
Marc Jacobs flecked Swiss shirt I'd purchased a month ago for $168, priced at
$60.) Plus, the original, outlandish price, announced loudly above Century 21's,
blinds you to the reality of what you're paying. You get home and wonder how
exactly you "saved" $80 by buying a $70 Gaultier T-shirt. Then you
have to confront the system of eternal returns. The policy is generous -- full
refund in 30 days -- but you're forced to walk through the rack of new arrivals
to get to the customer-service department. You start trying on all over again.
(Village Voice writer Lynn Yaeger called it "Century Bulimia.") So
why, with the current frequency of great sales at mellower shopping venues, are
people chomping at the bit to get back inside the doors? (It's pretty hard to
chalk this fervour up to civic duty.) It's the same reason people return to New
York: It's dirty, it's competitive, it's stylish, it's tacky, there's too much
consumerism, you can get anything you want, it's overwhelming, it's
disappointing, it makes you crazy, it makes you realize everyone's crazy, it's
sublime ... - by Miranda
Purves Saturday
Post 15 March 2002
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