The Chair Man Of The Board
“I don’t sell chairs any more,” said Jack Russo, the friendly, soft-spoken proprietor of Chair Man, the gift store on Fifth Avenue between Lincoln and Degraw. “I used to, though.”
Russo got his start working in a chair store on the Bowery. In 1982 he opened up a store of his own, on Seventh Avenue between First and Garfield, in a space that has remained vacant since he moved into the current location last March.
“Customers come in and tell me that they still have the rocking chair I sold them almost 30 years ago!” he said. “Over time, the neighborhood shifted, though. The guy who did our repair work passed away, and gas prices skyrocketed, which made shipping difficult.”
As the neighborhood shifted, so did the Chair Man. Russo has created one of the most enjoyable places to shop in the neighborhood, and if there’s a store that smells better in the entire city I have yet to find one. “I sell a lot of stuff that smells great,” said Russo. The smell of incense, candles, and scented oils merge with relaxing instrumental music to immediately put the customer at ease.
