Brooklyn Denim Co. (338 Wythe Ave.) has officially shut its doors in Williamsburg after 17 years in operation.
However, the brand will still live on, albeit in a different format.
SJ Denim reports that “owner Frank Pizzurro plans to continue producing Brooklyn Denim Co. jeans and transition the U.S.-made brand to an online-only mode,” and “additionally, the store’s popular repair service will remain at the same location under a new name, The Mending Station.”
Pizzurro cited a few reasons for the closure in an interview with SJ Denim, including what he felt was a downturn in tourism, scaffolding issues, and the area’s high rents.
“Rents here are $7,000 to $10,000 a month, so basically, what happens is people become house poor. They live in a great neighborhood, but they don’t have a lot of disposable income,” he said.
Brooklyn Denim Co. first opened its storefront on Wythe Avenue and North 3rd in 2010. In 2018, they moved a few blocks south to a storefront between South 1st and 2nd streets.
The store stocked both men and women’s options, raw denim, and other apparel.
Stores are closing by the dozen but it seems they will open after awhile with something else. There are two empty big stores on Manhattan Ave. One use to be an illegal pot store (before that Jan’s Stationary) and a big empty store that used to be 7/11 on Manhattan Ave. Both stores have construction going on and assume will open as new stores. Also the tie dye store by St. Anthony’s that closed will be a Korean, French pastry store.