The Shophound

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH: Will Rojas Is Your Shop Clerk At Little Willy's

New York Magazine's "Ask A Shop Clerk" feature made its monthly appearance this week with a spotlight on Little Willy's, the junior division of custom tailor Lord Willy's in NoLiTa.

This, of course, brings up the universal question of whether custom tailoring for the not-yet-fully-grown is overkill. Okay, not really universal. In fact the store serves to remind us all that here in New York City, there's always somebody who will be willing to take advantage of the opportunity to overspend on your children's clothes, even if they don't much care where their polo shirts came from. Okay, we shouldn't say that. After all, when The Shophound was a wee tot, we cared deeply about the provenance of all our clothes, and it's probably just as well that if there was such a thing as Little Willy's then, we didn't know about it since it was all we could do to get our little self outfitted in Lacoste and Polo.

But back to the clerk, young Will Rojas, who is thankfully spared the indignity of modeling the store's wares himself in favor of grown-up outfits from the father ship next door. As for the potential tedium of toiling in a shop devoted solely to dressing affluent pre-gentlemen,

Q- How do you make shopping fun for boys?
A- We have books that make farting noises. So sometimes our posh British store is overrun with silly sounds.

So, fart books and $125 boy's shirts all in the same place.
Is New York marvelous or what?

Ask A Shop Clerk: Will Rojas (NYMag)
Little Willy’s, 223 Mott Street, near Prince Street, NoLiTa

Toys For Kids Prevail: Lego Pushes Brookstone Out Of Rockefeller Center

Perhaps nothing will make our 8-year-old alter ego happier than to learn that LEGO is opening a flagship store in Rockefeller Center this summer. They will be taking over the 50th Street location currently occupied by Brookstone (pictured above) which means that toys and gadgets for grownups have been edged out by toys for kids.
We expect that some might see this as a juvenilization of midtown retail -and we can see that- but we feel strongly that there is no greater toy on the planet than a giant bucket of Lego bricks, regardless of age.
We look forward to seeing the entirety of Rockefeller Center rendered in Legos in the store by mid-Summer.
That kind of thing never gets old.
Between The Bricks (NYPost, 4th item)
LEGO (Official Site)

Today In Liquidation: Bankruptcy For Best & Co. Shutters Children's Shop At Bergdorf's

It's back to the trash heap of long lost stores for Best & Co. as Connecticut based retailer which has also been operating the children's department at Bergdorf Goodman is liquidating. The company which though a series of acquisitions is now part of Toys R Us, filed a Chapter 7 petition for liquidation Friday in New Jersey.
Originally remembered as a great Fifth Avenue department store, the Best & Co. name was revived in the late '90s by Susie (the former Mrs. Tommy) Hilfiger in Greenwich, Connecticut as a high end children's store featuring luxury clothes for children, often attracting designers to make special collections. It was a natural fit to take over a leased space on Bergdorf's 7^th floor where children's clothing had been eliminated years before. The Greenwich store was precipitously shut on Saturday, and the Bergdorf's space will also close.
Hilfiger sold her company to FAO Schwarz in 2007, and Schwarz was acquired by Toys R Us last month. Presumably, the toy behemoth wanted little to do with a money-losing, exclusive specialty apparel business (can you blame them?). Bergdorf's is now listed among the company's creditors. From all reports, Toys R Us will continue operating the FAO Schwarz stores in New York and Las Vegas, but, for now, it's curtains for Best & Co.
Best & Co. Files Chapter 7 Liquidation (WWD)

Kiddie Luxury at Trico Field

It's not often that we are tempted to burst out laughing in a store. Normally we try to maintain composure if only out of courtesy for the staff, but we really had to restrain ourselves when we came across the carefully weathered jeans at Trico Field in SoHo for $166.
For a toddler.
They were the kind of jeans that have paint spatters that look random until you notice that each pair has exactly the same spatters in exactly the same places. We had to laugh because of the ridiculous price for childrenswear, but mainly at the notion that a little boy's pair of jeans would have to be messed up professionally, as if he wouldn't be able to get them dirty himself!
Trico Field, which opened last fall, is full of grownup clothes for little children, not one of our favorite trends. These are miniature versions of beautifully detailed casual clothes in top quality fabrics, at adult prices. Expensive adult prices. Part of the expense might be owed to the fact that this is the first U.S. outlet for a Japanese company, so the exchange rates are not exactly in our favor. Merchandise is displayed with with meticulous care, and the store's tag line is, "Style With A Message, Just For Kids". Exactly what message is that?

Trico Field 65 West Houston Street, SoHo