Greenjeans' Last Day in Park Slope

Three years and 446 posts ago, I started this blog to record the experience of starting and running Greenjeans.

So I want to take a moment to mark this day, our last in Park Slope, as the first chapter of our Greenjeans Adventure comes to a close.

Before I do, please note that I’ll be taking a little time off this week and won’t be blogging. But when I return, look forward to coverage of the Renegade Craft Fair by guest blogger Stephanie Carter, and more details about our evolving ideas about the next phase of Greenjeans. So do stay tuned!

Now, as excited and confident as I feel about our next steps with Greenjeans, it is also, predictably, a day of mixed emotions. I feel nostalgic for the (not so) old shop already, its goldenrod brick wall, the cabinets and long shelves my Dad built, the curtain at the back made just for us from reclaimed blue men's shirts and the tabs at the top made from collars. I'll miss sitting with Jae, bent over our twin Macs, in the pressed-wood chairs at the red-edged table. The table and chairs belonged to my parents when they first got married. They bought them as antiques while Dad was in the Air Force in Michigan. (We could have sold those chairs and table a thousand times if they had been for sale!)

It has been a great pleasure coming to our spot in the South Slope day after day, enjoying the neighborhood and being part of the community. We have loved watching little kids stop to count the row of Jane Kaufmann’s raku clay finger puppets lined up in the front window. We’ve loved having long conversations with regular customers, some of whom have become good friends. And we have loved being neighbors with Shoe Mine, Vespa, Pomona, Chickpeas, and until recently Rare Device, all unsurpassed for their neighborliness and friendship (especially Rena, Temah, and Lori!) We will miss being there with you all every day, and seriously hope we don’t lose touch.

A few more thoughts demand noting, like the countless bacon-egg-and-cheeses from Bagel Hole, falafel sandwiches from Olive Vine, and cups of coffee from Parco we’ve consumed. The wine shop with its consistently reliable “cheap & tasty” bins, the constantly tempting dress shops up and down 7th Avenue, the music store (Music Matters) with the devoted owner who worked circles around us. The deli, the other deli, the fancy deli. Pumpkin’s Organic Market. Knowing Prospect Park was only two blocks away, though we rarely managed to take advantage of it.

All these thoughts flood my mind and make me feel melancholy about today. I think some customers have felt the same way. Lots of them have been coming in since we announced our relocation, and so many have expressed disappointment or surprise. But the encouragement and good wishes we’ve been receiving these past few weeks has been even more overwhelming. We are really sorry to be going, but it is so nice to be loved!

We’ve tried to get the word out about this transition, but still I hate the thought of someone coming after we’ve closed and thinking we’ve gone out of business.

Because the Greenjeans Adventure continues.

In fact it doesn’t even stop.

Onward!!

Posted by Amy Shaw for Greenjeans.