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Midtown Lumber Mart, INC.

Opening Hours
Today: 8am–5pm
Fri:
8am–5pm
Sat:
Closed
Sun:
Closed
Mon:
8am–5pm
Tues:
8am–5pm
Wed:
8am–5pm
Location
276 West 25th Street
Neighborhoods
Midtown Lumber Mart, INC. 1 Building Supplies Hardware Stores Chelsea

Starting as a family owned business in 1962, Midtown Lumber continues to expand, build up the city, and uphold its legacy of excellent customer service and quality under the new leadership of Zach Chasky.



Zach began working at Midtown Lumber as a teenager, and instantly knew that a career in the lumber industry was just right for him. “I really enjoyed it. It was the first kind of thing in my life that just really made sense.” After working at Midtown Lumber for three years, Zach left in order to grow as a project manager at a different construction company. Later, Mike Kopf, the son of Midtown Lumber’s founder Paul Kopf, re-hired Zach for a more senior position.

There was never a question of whether Michael Kopf was going to take over Midtown Lumber when he grew up. Since 1962, when his family came to New York and his father and uncle co-founded the business, it had been a part of Mike’s life. He spent his earliest days in and around the place: “I used to play in the bins in the back,” he recalled. Though Mike eventually attended Baruch College, he always arranged his class schedule to allow him ample time to work at the lumber shop. He started working full-time when he was twenty-four. After working for Mike for fifteen years, an accident caused Mike to be unable to continue running the business, and Zach was able to raise the money to purchase the lumber business.



Midtown Lumber receives a wide range of clients: from individual people, to businesses of all sizes, to developers. Zach considers the fact that around 90% of their income is from returning customers a major success. After working in the business for so long, a lot of the customers have become his close friends. While describing what it is like to work at Midtown Lumber, Zach said that “most people would say my environment is too relaxed. I’m close to everyone who works with me. It’s really a family environment.” Having great quality and consistency, as well as truly treating every customer like “they’re the only one who matters,” has established them as a reliable business over the course of their decade’s long existence.

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Midtown Lumber Mart, INC. 2 Building Supplies Hardware Stores Chelsea
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Midtown Lumber Mart, INC. 8 Building Supplies Hardware Stores Chelsea
Midtown Lumber Mart, INC. 9 Building Supplies Hardware Stores Chelsea
Midtown Lumber Mart, INC. 1 Building Supplies Hardware Stores Chelsea

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New York Vintage

A favorite of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Sarah Jessica Parker, New York Vintage is what co-founder Shannon Hoey describes as “a leader in fashion. ” Shannon has spent the past twenty-three years amassing an extensive collection of vintage clothing, which includes a downstairs retail space open to the public and an upstairs industry archive open by appointment only. Over the years, Shannon has dressed red carpet actresses and world-famous singers, and has worked closely with costume designers on a range of films and TV series, including Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men. In 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama made a historic appearance in a New York Vintage Norman Norell dress, and since then, Shannon has dressed her on many occasions. When I first visited New York Vintage, I could not believe my eyes. The window display was stunning, as was the old-fashioned décor, complete with richly upholstered chairs, gilded mirrors, and ornate chandeliers. I was captivated by the wall of Vogue photographs, each one featuring a piece from Shannon’s collection, and of course, by the true treasure of New York Vintage: high-heeled shoes, flamboyant hats, and endless racks of beautiful dresses from designers around the world. Upstairs, the industry archive upstairs was filled with even more outrageous items, from a dress owned by Ulysses Grant’s wife to intricate McQueen headpieces. “Every piece here has historical significance, ” Shannon told me. “We’re an institution, a working museum archive. ” In fact, she added, many of the items at New York Vintage have been purchased from museums, and each piece is meticulously documented and entered into a database. Today, Shannon is one of New York’s foremost experts on fashion as an art form, so I was surprised to learn that she never set out to work with vintage clothing. “Fashion discovered me, ” she told me, explaining how her husband’s career in antiques first sparked her interest in vintage. It quickly became her passion, and within a few years, she and her husband co-founded New York Vintage. “He handles the business side of things, and I’m the creative director, ” Shannon explained. “So I get to do the fun part. ”But the vintage business can be difficult, too, and it took years of hard work for Shannon to build her collection. “The kind of fashion we seek is not easily found, ” she said. “It takes patience and capital, and you need to know what you’re looking for. ” In the early days, Shannon spent a lot of time searching for new pieces in Europe, but nowadays, with three young daughters, she travels much less. When I asked about her children, she said with a smile, “They spend a lot of time here with me, and they love playing dress-up. ”Shannon, unsurprisingly, also loves dressing up, and she told me that she has a lot of opportunities to wear items from her collection. “Halloween is my favorite holiday, ” she explained, “And last year I went to Allison Sarofim’s Italian futurism-themed party in a pink Mohawk and mod clothing. ” But Shannon’s favorite era is the 1920s. “I’m obsessed with all of it, ” she said. “The mindset, the freedom, the departure from women being bound and put in corsets. ”Still marveling over Shannon’s list of celebrity clients, which includes Julia Roberts and Beyonce, I asked if she ever gets starstruck. When celebrities first started flocking to the store, she told me, it was totally overwhelming, “like running from a tidal wave. ” But since then, the only time she has really been starstruck was her visit to the White House with the First Lady. “Some celebrities still catch me off-guard, ” she said, “Like the time Nicole Kidman showed up unannounced. But otherwise, I’m used to it. ”When I asked Shannon about the future of New York Vintage, she told me that they are hoping to expand overseas. “We want to open our doors to global clients, ” she told me, “maybe by opening an outpost in Europe. ” But until then, she told me, she will continue to do what she loves here in New York, working with designers, inspiring them and feeling inspired. For Shannon, the truly fulfilling part of her job is working with designers and models, creating with them and helping to communicate their vision. “I’m always inspired, ” she said with a smile. “I have the best job in the world. ”