Is Garry Jewelers Open?
A question I ask myself fairly often—at least every three months, and certainly whenever I walk down Fifth Avenue in Park Slope—is "Is Garry Jewelers open?"
Open for business, I mean. Not just open right now. Every time I've walked by—or ridden the bus by—this old jewelry store (founded in 1951, sez the sign), the roller shutter has been down. I've never seen anyone inside. Not an employee, not a customer.
When I've asked around, people tell me that the store is still a going concern. Michael Garafola, the owner, just opens when he feels like it. His neighbors accept packages for him. But still others told me they had been trying to reclaim repaired jewelry from the store for months, even years.
Lately, though, it's seem more closed than usual. There's too much dust in the window displays. I can't imagine Garry's is going to roll up that shutter any more.
Garry Jewelers was run by Ralph S. Garafola until his death in 1999, after which his son Michael took over. I'm assuming Garry was an Americanization of the name Garafola. Apparently Michael had heart surgery at the end of 2008, and he opened the store less often after that.
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I haven't seen it open for a good while. Last I heard, Michael was still trying to decide what to do with the place. He had worked in the store with his mother & his illness came not long after her own. I loved going in there & got a couple of things repaired just before it closed. I always dread seeing the sign gone from the block.
I've been wondering, too. I've stopped by a few evenings over the last year to try to get a photo of their great neon sign, but no luck so far.
I'm not a fan of soft closings at all. Think of all that jewelry sent to the store to repair that people can't reclaim.
Unfortunately it's closed for good. Michael still owns it, and on occasion will give the entryway a sweeping, but it hasn't been open for business in years and probably never will be again.
I just hope that the old sign is somehow saved. Maybe a new hipster bar called Garry Jewelers will open in the space!
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