Sayonara, Sidewalk Sale!
Whether you browsed or bought, last week’s shopping extravaganza was a can’t-miss experience.
By DEBORAH SKOLNIK
The Scarsdale Small Business Alliance Sidewalk Sale ended on Saturday, July 27th, and as usual, it was a bittersweet finale. As the fluttering white tents were disassembled, the frenetic hum of activity on our village streets subsided. Here and there, a last-minute shopper slipped away, cradling a bag of marked-down treasures as carefully as if it were a bag of regular-priced treasures. Somehow, priced-to-steal finds seem even more valuable.
”It’s nice that they have all the stores, plus brands that don’t have brick and mortar shops, to help other entrepreneurs,” said shopper Pamela Pekerman (@hustlelikeamom).
Throughout the event, which began on Thursday, July 25th, fine weather boosted the crowds. The Pamela Robbins boutique teemed with fashionistas, all gleefully browsing rarefied clothing at even rarer discounts. (“It’s like a bus pulled up,” one well-placed source remarked.) Who wouldn’t love a pair of Stella McCartney Falabella sandals, once $800+, for about $250? The line for the register often stretched to the back of the store.
“I’m actually wearing a shirt I bought from here a while ago,” said shopper Larry Rusoff, as he browsed the racks of menswear outside Rothmans.
All the clothing boutiques, in fact, did a brisk business. At Mixology, charming sweatshirts went for $25 and gorgeous dresses for $75; Great Stuff had half-price cashmere sweaters so soft they made Snuggle the fabric-softener bear seem like a two-bit hustler. (Sorry, Snuggle, we tell it like it is.) Over at I Am More, chic Poupette St. Barth sundresses no longer depleted shoppers’ rainy-day savings. The only thing left to do was drop by Holsten Jewelers to complete your look.
That wasn’t nearly all of it. Savvy customers snapped up Nest reed diffusers at 50% off at La Dentelliere, or dropped by Eye Gallery, where haute frames were on display at attractive prices. For guys, the Rothmans tent had tables piled high with wardrobe staples. “I’m actually wearing a shirt I bought from here a while ago,” said shopper Larry Rusoff, while browsing through a rack of other Rothmans shirts. Were we supposed to have worn an item of clothing previously purchased from the store we were now revisiting? Like the way you wear an old Taylor Swift concert t-shirt to a Taylor Swift concert? Metaphysical ponderings require sustenance, which is why people bought mango macarons from the Woops tent. Really, that was the sole motivation.
“Thank you to our loyal customers and the entire community for making this year’s sidewalk sale such a tremendous success,” said Marcy Berman-Goldstein, co-founder of I Am More (left), with team member Sydney Goldberg. Their outfits are from the store’s limited-run Luisa Positano collection.
If you wish you’d bought that taper candle or jigsaw puzzle when you saw it—a bad case of non-buyer’s remorse—don’t worry; there’s always next year. In the meantime, look on the bright side: You can find a parking spot again.
Did you make it to the sale? What did you think, and what did you buy? Share in the comments below.