Vanishing New York — Daffy’s will be closing all 19 of its New York City locations this fall, including the three-floor store on 57th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, the multi-floor location at 34th Street and Herald Square, and in Brooklyn Terminal Market.
Daffy’s has been in financial trouble for a while, and has been facing increasing competition from international chains H&M and Uniqlo, from national chains Marshall’s, TJ Maxx and DSW shoes, as well as from local discounter Century 21, all of which are growing in NYC, and some of which are across the street or down the block from Daffy’s locations.
Daffy’s started in 1961 with a single store in Elizabeth, New Jersey, called Daffy Dan’s Bargain Town, with steeply discounted merchandise dumped in bins you rummaged through, like dumpster diving. Hangars and racks came later, and — sadly — the bins likely will return for the final liquidation sales.
Family-owned Daffy’s is just the latest chain to close up shop in New York City. I’ve lived here all my life, so I remember Abraham & Straus, Gimbel’s, B. Altman, Franklin Simon, S. Klein, Best & Co., E. J. Korvette’s, Bonwit Teller, Stern’s, Orbach’s, Alexander’s and May’s, and covered some of those store closings in a previous life, when I was a reporter for WABC TV Channel 7 “Eyewitness News”.
Click here to read my posting on these vanished New York stores written when Filene’s and Syms closed their doors last year.
Related NYCOTC articles about beloved but vanished New York stores —
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