On 28 August 1995, LEO Design opened its doors for the first time. It feels like only yesterday . . .
What started as a shoestring operation grew in time. There were thousands of (unpaid) hours logged and more than a few lucky breaks along the way. Nothing would have happened without wonderfully supportive customers. And, most of all, we built a staff that exceeded every expectation I could have envisioned. My staff made the business work; they befriended our precious customers; many of them have become dear friends—even to this day.
LEO Design premiered at 413 Bleecker Street. At the time, Bleecker Street was unselfconsciously (and unapologetically) "mom and pop." There was a pet bird shop (which later became a fancy television cupcake bakery). There was an art gallery selling illustrated animation cells (which later sold expensive perfume in vulgar packaging). Antique shops dominated the street—each one manned by the actual owners who sourced all the merchandise, cleaned-it-up and sold it. There was a Chinese restaurant, a diner and (even!) a coin-op laundromat. All on Bleecker Street! It was a neighborhood designed for neighbors. Within very few years of our debut, the "big boys" moved-in with their bottomless checkbooks—and we, the little guys, were pushed-out, one-by-one. I once asked a fashion executive (who was opening his third or fourth separate store on Bleecker Street), "When you pay so much rent, how do you make any money?" I'll never forget his answer: "We don't need to make money. It's just advertising. $50,000, $75,000 dollars a month for rent, plus staff? That's less than one full page ad in the Sunday New York Times." Fashion had decided that Bleecker Street was now "the quaint place to be." And Bleecker Street became just another upscale mall—with the same stores you might find in The Mall at Short Hills, in Americana at Manhasset, or in The Grove in Los Angeles.
We clung-on for 15 years until my landlady showed us the door. ("We're looking for a Blue Chip tenant.") We alighted two blocks away, at 543 Hudson Street, which was refreshingly "authentic" after the artifice which had transformed Bleecker. LEO Design was open for seven more years on Hudson.
In September of 2016, during a trip to Pittsburgh (to shop and to visit my ailing mother-in-law), we unexpectedly happened upon an open house that took our breath away. This handsome, 1907 Tudor Arts & Crafts house had been tailor-made for all the dark, heavy, Turn-of-the-Century furniture we had been collecting for 25 years. Over the course of that weekend, we re-visited the house (two more times!) and made the decision: Providence was opening a door.
Though I sorely miss New York (Every. Single. Day.), in hindsight, the move proved fortuitous. Granted, packing and moving (first a store, then a home) 400 miles West, was difficult--emotionally, physically, financially. But at least we enjoyed an "organized retreat." Had we not left, and been forced to close the store during Covid (with two week's notice and nowhere to put 25 years worth of merchandise) we would have been sunk. In the end, it all worked-out for the best.
Perhaps the best souvenir of LEO Design's Greenwich Village days is Benji, shop dog extraordinaire. At 12.5 years old, he is still going strong. Most of the time, he sleeps in one of seven doggie beds, arranged over three floors of the house. But "the puppy within" pops-out every now and then, reminding me of the lad we first found at Le Petit Puppy on Christopher Street. (That's another story for another day!) He has been an enormous blessing in our life. Most days, he would walk to the shop with me, only to sleep most of the day, in his crate behind the counter.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.