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A Last Look Inside Love Saves the Day
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 11, 2008
Modified Dec 11, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 11, 2008
Modified Dec 11, 2008
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Earlier this month we learned that after more than four decades in the East Village, kitsch mecca Love Saves the Day will close. Yesterday we dropped by and, with owner Richie Herson's approval, took some photos of the eclectic boutique—an activity that's ordinarily forbidden. By the way, it's a great time to stop by and pick up some Christmas gifts while paying your respects; the store has slashed prices 30%-50%.
Martin Ruginis, who's been working there for 15 years, said that he "just wants the store to close already" because he's "tired of hearing customers tell him how upset they are about it." According to Ruginis, the best selling product is the fake pile of shit. It used to be called doo doo, but it wasn't selling well so they changed the name to shit and could barely keep it on the shelves. As if to tempt fate, the late Leslie Herson, who opened the store in 1966, then changed it back to doo doo because she didn't like the profanity. Sales plummeted again, so she relented and changed the name yet again in order to sell more shit.
Reached by phone, Richie Herson dismissed the possibility of a benefactor stepping in to save Love Saves the Day (MySpace), floated by Racked, and told us he'll be out by the first week in January. (But for the die hards, there's still a second location in New Hope, Pennsylvania.) It's not known what will rise up in place of the Second Avenue location, but Ruginis predicts it will become a restaurant, further contributing to lower Second Avenue's transformation into "a food court." And Vanishing New York wonders what will become of Karen, the woman who vends outside the shop.
Photos and additional reporting by Katie Sokoler.
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closing
desperately seeking susan
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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