Closed for Business: Guvnor's Vintage Thrift, 178 5th Avenue
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 8:19AM
Guvnor's, the expansive vintage thrift shop on 5th Avenue between Degraw and Sackett, closed down for good as the Fifth Avenue fair ended on Sunday after more than four years in the space.
The shop had an old-school rock and roll vibe, and the merchandise for sale, some of which dated back to the 1930s, was all undoubtedly cool, and well-curated. It was the brainchild of owner Suzette Sundae, who's owned eight similar shops in the past 20-odd years and posted a lengthy letter/airing of grievances back in January explaining the reasons behind her closure of arbuably the best vintage store in the neighborhood. Namely, she finds that the neighborhood has lost its rock-and-roll attitude and is suffering from a lack of "cultural richness."
"Anyone visiting Park Slope these days, could likely detect a marked lack in the ol' rock n roll, except at Enz's (across the street) and at a handful of bars," she wrote. "I’m not sensing a lot of 'cultural richness' either, with the exception of the cheese fridge, over at Bierkraft."
She continues: "Fewer and fewer of our “fashion-forward,” “vintagista” shoppers have been strolling in, but the strollers . . . well, those strollers continue streaming past, in endless waves of upper middle class, conservative earth tones ... The thought of selling khaki jackets and baby buggies appeals as much to me as eating Wonderbread dipped in milk ... Sure, we could move to Williamsburg, or Bushwick, but what about when those neighborhoods suffer a similar 'Conservo Scourge?'"
Sundae's rant reminds me a bit of what the owners of Southpaw said after announcing their closure, blaming it on the neighborhood's supposed shortcomings. She adds that she decided to sell the space for "generous compensation" and will now be "pursuing a life of creative freedom," and vowed that the shop will be moving online, but at the moment the Etsy store only has 13 items listed.
Closed for Business in Storefronts
Reader Comments (28)
So 4 years ago when she opened, Park Slope was rock n roll? She's an idiot. And I say that as someone who knows her. She's a mean spirited vindictful woman. She's a leech.
Guvnor's was certainly not the best anything. Odd twin was great, beacons closet is better (thus they are still in business and expanding) life boutique is better. guvnor's was like the leftover clothing the Salvation Army couldn't sell.
Do not believe a thing this woman says. You want to hear the real story, speak to anyone who was worked for or come into contact with this woman.
Talk about sour grapes. And yet here you are printing everything she says even though it makes no sense. Park slope has been like this for many years and to suggest it was cool and funky 4 years ago is just plain stupid as hell.
The irony being this proposed idea of "rock n roll" is just as much a codified trope, with all the rigidness and conservative demarcating that implies, as that which she rails against.
Or perhaps she closed because several more vintage stores opened, the market became over saturated and only the best businesspeople could compete?
@Tim and @Sam -right on
Nothing like a business closing, the owner making asinine comments about the neighborhood and everyone thinking 'good RIDDENS' don't let the door hit ya on the way to Bushwick.
If you've ever met Ms Sundae you know she's a whack job. This store was filled with CRAP and yes there are 10 other better vintage stores in Park Slope alone.
Won't miss this place one bit. Her comments are disgusting but in line with her personality. You know the type, always the victim.
That blog post of hers was hilarious. If she thought the Park Slope of 5 years ago was "rock and roll", then she is clearly so not rock and roll. (Plus, who the hell describes something as rock and roll anymore? Is she a baby boomer?)
Listen, dear lady, lesson #1 of being a businessperson is knowing your market. You opened pretty much in the heart of bourgeois Park Slope (and, yes, it was the same 5 years ago). If you wanted rock-n-roll, you could have ventured into Gowanus or down into South Slope or Greenwood Heights. But then again, it's the people with strollers that tend to have the cash to support fledgling and frivolous businesses like yours.
I'm glad you've found Etsy (a business that just about perfectly typifies the precious, Park Slope aesthetic) to be sufficiently rock-n-roll for your tastes.
Signed,
A stroller pusher that never set foot in your shop.
Yup, Jack nailed it. It was her poor location choice, yet she blames the neighborhood for not supporting the shop. Selfish.
I thought it was a cool shop, even bought a couple pairs of shades there.
Is this the same woman who used to work at Odd Twin, shafted the owner and then opened up her own shop less than a block away in spite?
Yeah, Karma.
Heard she did really sick stuff like put dog shit in the locks of the Odd Twin gates.
Park Slope is an affluent, beautiful, GROWN UP neighborhood.
If she was looking for something else, SHE chose the wrong neighborhood. The neighborhood is not at fault that she's a terrible businesswoman and apparently not a very nice person either.
The one time I went in there, I thought it was a glorified goodwill. There's a difference between vintage and used and this seemed like just used clothing to me. Life Boutique, Beacons Closet, these are shops I go to all the time, Guvnor's was mostly crap.
Yawn. Suzette Sundae. Nothing more "rock and roll" authentic than changing your last name name from Bookbinder to Sundae.
Rock on REBEL!!!!
Is this where the J.Crew is opening in August?
The words "fashion forward vintagista" is revolting. Does she have no awareness of how stupid she sounds? More like fashion forward vaginista.
8 shops in 20 years eh? Not a very good track record for keeping stores open more than a couple years. Did she diss every neighborhood she's failed in or just the most recent?
littlejohn...see this:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/money/woman-sets-shop-finds-market-clothes-article-1.345633
As I expected. Instead of building her business, she's always behind the curve trying to latch onto the next "hip" neighborhood but instead seems to have no business acumen to actually open a shop and STAY THERE for more than a couple years. Why is Beacons Closet still open 10 years later and now expanded to Manhattan and Greenpoint? Because they know business and this woman only knows how to run around and try to find those elusive fashion forward vintagistas. Love that she changed her name from Bookbinder to Sundae. Says so much about her personality.
Can you say WANNABE!
I think the most hilarious part of this is that all her former shops were in Boston, better knows as the most anti Rock N Roll, anti-hip, and most conservo whatever the hell she's talking about CITY IN THE US.!
Boston makes Park Slope seem like Berkeley California!!!
Her blog post is ridiculous and ignorant. Glad I stayed away from this shop, sounds like she's all about sour grapes, blame and self delusion.
I've walked in this shop a few times and have NEVER found anything there...it was very difficult to get around in and I never saw it as vintage....just saw it as selling junk. Based upon what I am reading about this woman, she really does not seem to have too much business acumen....20 businesses that all folded - I'd give up by now
I liked the woman, Miss Sundae, but "fashion forward vintagistas" is obviously an oxymoron, so that's part of the problem
Wow, after reading her "letter" I'm glad she closed.
I popped in there with child attached via ergo (no stroller that day) and after throwing several drinks back at some brunch place a few doors down. I saw this awful pink 70s button down list for $50. I offered the tattooed rock and roller girl at the register $4. She came back with $7 (seriously?!) and I said I had $6 cash, and that was that.
I have the shirt now. I'll probably never wear it. Too rock and roll for this dad. lol But it has cool snaps down the front.
Maybe I'll wear it to a dress up party that we earthy green parents like to throw to mock the rock and roll hipster kids that can't afford to keep a business open in our bourgeois neighborhood.
Hey Suzette,
Almost 400 years ago a dude named Peter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan from the local Indians for the equivalent of a few bucks. Thereafter, some changes in the neighborhood occurred.
And they continue to occur. Everywhere. All the time. That's how it is. Those who anticipate the changes correctly are often successful in business. Those who don't are usually doomed to failure.
Now you know how the Indians felt.
@Park Slope Dude
That's native americans
@Suzette
A quote for you from the website AllThingsCherokee:
"...Ironically, Indians, or American Indians (whichever you prefer), did not seem interested in changing their name. AIM, the American Indian Movement, did not begin calling itself NAM. The American Indian College Fund did not change its name. Many Indians continue to call themselves Indian or American Indian regardless of what the rest of America and the world calls them. Why?
The reasons are diverse and personal, but there are two popular reasons. The first reason is habit. Many Indians have been Indians all their lives. The Native people of this continent have been called Indian throughout all of post-Columbian history. Why change now? The second reason is far more political. While the new politically correct terms were intended to help ethnic groups by giving them a name that did not carry the emotional baggage of American history, it also enabled America to ease its conscience. The term Native American is so recent that it does not have all the negative history attached. Native Americans did not suffer through countless trails of tears, disease, wars, and cultural annihilation -- Indians did. The Native people today are Native Americans not Indians, therefore we do not need to feel guilty for the horrors of the past. Many Indians feel that this is what the term Native American essentially does -- it white-washes history. It cleans the slate."
One more quote from the same page:
"When you don't know the specific tribe simply use the term which you are most comfortable using. The worst that can happen is that someone might correct you and open the door for a thoughtful debate on the subject of political correctness and its impact on ethnic identity. What matters in the long run is not which term is used but the intention with which it is used. Terms like "redskin" and "injun" are obviously offensive because of the historical meaning behind them; however, the term "Indian" is increasingly falling back into use. But when used in the wrong context any label can be offensive."
http://www.allthingscherokee.com/articles_culture_events_070101.html
It's an interesting read.
Finally, to continue the spirit of correcting word usage, the term "Native American" should always be capitalized.
How many indians shopped at Gubnar's Used Clothing? Probably a few.
Ummm...but no. Have you been to that place? They've been going out of business for over a month and STILL have a store packed with clothes. They over bought and sat on a TON of inventory which is just a horrible way to run a business. At 50% off they couldn't go through all their stock. It's ridiculous. Plus they had really flaky sales girls there, it would take forever to get assistance, tons of things had no price tags. It was just really poorly run from a business sense. From a style sense, they also seemed to suffer from "this is old, let's buy it". Lots of stuff was ugly, super beat up, bizarre sizes. It wasn't a curated collection, like say Odd Twin which I miss dearly. It was just piles and piles of old stuff, which does not a vintage shop make.
PS - if it is the neighborhood then it's still the owners fault. rule number one of business is location, location, location - and you can't force your clothes onto a neighborhood that's not "rock" enough for them. Cater to your customers rather than judge them.
I too miss Odd Twin a lot. It was one of the most beautifully curated vintage stores I've ever been to in New York. I bought probably close to $1000 in merchandise there over the 4 or so years they were open. They do have a nice online presence though and the closing had more to do with the owner expecting her 2nd little one not a lack of patrons or press, which always seemed healthy.
Guvnor's on the hand, was junk. Always went in thinking MAYBE I'd find the one prize in the mounds and mounds of junk, but it never happened. Never bought one thing there. The staff was rude, the clothing was used, NOT VINTAGE and I often wondered if they were simply stealing bags of used clothing from Beacons Closet that they didn't buy back.
And to suggest it's the neighborhood that is the problem doesn't really account for the huge list of vintage stores in Park Slope now, probably more than any neighborhood outside of East Village. Just off the top of my head since I do a lot of vintage hunting and shopping:
Beacons Closet
Life Boutique (2 locations on 5th Avenue)
Two Lovers
Pony
Monk
Eponymy
m.a.e.
Housing Works
L Train (2 locations, one in south slope, huge one on Sackett too)
Petrune
Enz's
So as one of those "fashion forward vintagistas" Ms. Sundae was looking for, we are here in Park Slope, we just hated your stuff. I shop at nearly all of the places listed above and have bought things at most.
Your shop I NEVER ONCE found a thing to purchase. Everything looked like a rag.