When a reader wrote in to tell us Alphabets was closing its original location on Avenue A we wondered where we’d get our mustache-shaped cookie cutters. But Linda Heidinger, who’s had the store for nearly three decades, put us at ease.
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Manatees Are Huge This Year, Says One of These Novelty-Gift Gurus
Whether you’re looking for an inflatable unicorn horn, a MetroCard bow tie, or a Ryan Gosling coloring book, the East Village is just the place to find those preposterous stocking stuffers. If you’re not giving everyone Bowery-scented air fresheners this year and you’re hard-up for last-minute gift ideas, you’ll want to stop into Random Accessories, Alphabets and Exit 9. We recently did just that, to find out what’s on the shelves and what’s flying off of them. For one thing, Charles Branstool, owner of Exit 9, insists the manatee is “the next big animal to go viral on the shopping scene” (sharknado is totally over, after all). Hear all about that above, and hear from the folks at the other fine gift emporiums below.
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