This shop is nearly sensory overload; the visual impact alone is what compelled me to take photos for this article. Started four years ago by Joseph Pauletich, SoHo Treasures at 123 Mercer Street specializes in mid-century furniture and articles acquired through estate sales and auctions. The articles are sometimes reupholstered or refinished. The store sells to retail clients, along with designers, shop owners, and others who may utilize the items as props in stores, various environments, TV, or film.

Originally, the store made acquisitions through locker room sales, some of them made where the entire contents were sold as a lot. In these cases, bidders are not allowed to enter a locker or touch the contents before bidding – they can only attempt to assess the value via a view from the doorway of the storage room.

This is one of those unique NYC spots that you won’t find elsewhere. I put SoHo Treasures on a list, along with ABC Carpet and Home, as a place for the visitor or resident to check out if you are interested in home furnishings or perhaps a stroll through a menagerie of one-of–kind items – furniture, art, bars, display cases, jewelry, lighting, and mirrors. Go here to visit their website.

Note about the photo: The individual reflected in the mirror is my photographer friend Bill, who has been mentioned a number of times on this blog.

Although Canal Street has been in flux, it remains the discount mecca for New York City. Here you can find a myriad of consumer items at tremendous discounts. The streets are lined with shopping stalls packed with merchandise.

Unfortunately, for manufacturers of top-branded items, this area of Chinatown around Canal Street and Broadway is also the mecca for fakes and knockoffs. Trinkets, baubles, tourist T-shirts, and tacky NYC memorabilia are mixed with fake designer watches and designer bags. This is where Prada, Gucci, and Coach bags can be found for a small fraction of their normal retail price. Or Rolex watches for a few dollars. There are stories of back rooms and underground chasms where serious customers are led for counterfeit treasures (read an article about this here). Crackdowns and large scale arrests are made regularly, particularly targeting the importers and larger operations. But the pirates are tenacious, and the cat-and-mouse game continues.

I can’t speak to the quality of these fakes. I have never really partaken in these goods – my purchases have been confined to discounted legitimate products such as Casio watches, durians, or shopping in places such as Pearl River Mart, Pearl Paint, Space Surplus Metals, or Canal Rubber.

Legitimate bargains abound on Canal Street – if that is your interest, there are plenty of discounts to be had without supporting pirates…