Sad Recession Casualty:Goodbye Té Casan

These are harsh times. First Pushing Daisies gets canceled, and now this.
We are trying our very best to keep the news upbeat over here, but it would be wrong of us to ignore such an untimely passing.
What an surprise it was to discover from our friends at The Cut that as we were stuffing ourselves with Thanksgiving leftovers, Té Casan, one of New York's (and therefore the world's) best shoe stores, was in its death throes. The single store closed its doors forever on November 30th as the company has folded.
It's a surprise because nearly every shoe maven loved the store devoted to emerging footwear designer collections made exclusively for their one retail location and website. But then, it's not that big of a surprise, because the concept, while much admired, was extremely ambitious with a lavishly decorated store and a high overhead. It had clearly not yet become profitable after just about two years, or at least not profitable enough to continue in this harsh climate. Under better circumstances, perhaps it would have lived, and even thrived. We know a lot of women who will be very disappointed the next time they stroll West Broadway.
While Té Casan may ultimately be remembered as the company that gave Natalie Portman the opportunity to bring her vegan shoes to the world, we will always have a special fondness for the store that inspired then Critical Shopper Alex Kuzcynski to plagiarize us just the teensiest bit.
Rest In Peace.
Previously: Alex K Goes Shopping: Boozy Breakfast Edition
and, Té Casan Steps Out on West Broadway