‘P&T Knitwear’ Indie Bookstore Joins Hotel Indigo Retail on Orchard Street
A new indie bookstore and cafe is on the way to the Lower East Side.
The retail vacancy at 180 Orchard Street has been snatched up by P&T Knitwear, and plans to open early next year. The owner is venture capitalist and philanthropist Bradley Tusk – founder of the Gotham Book Prize. He’s partnered with Julie Wernersbach, a bookseller touting some 15 years’ experience, to get the venture up and running.
The store’s namesake – certainly a misnomer – derives from a knitwear company on the Lower East Side, which was actually co-founded by Tusk’s grandfather back in the 1950s. “He wanted to pay homage to the neighborhood, and create a good bookstore for New York and the Lower East Side,” Wernerbach told Shelf Awareness.
The shop will comprise of 3,000-square-feet in the retail space connected to Hotel Indigo (nee Orchard Hell Building). It will carry titles for children, teens and adults spanning all genres, plus there will be a particular focus on fiction and nonfiction highlighting New York City. Additionally, an events amphitheater and a free podcast studio will be available for the community’s use. All this, and they are making sure that their employees are well compensated, while also offering benefits. A noble yet ambitious undertaking.
More information will presumably surface on their landing page of alarming colors.
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