Glass Welfare

I think I’ve mentioned on here before that when I’m consulted by guests, friends, acquaintances and other passers-through as to what-to-do when visiting NYC, I give advice mostly based on what I know about this traveling flotsam. One thing is consistent however. I tell them to hit the elegant high-end stores along Fifth Avenue from about 44th St. all the way up to 60th. And I don’t mean just to window shop either, I mean these stores are retail establishments and, therefore, open to all; even the tank top and flip flop crowd. It’s sort of a 15-block retail museum of the first rank and you don’t have to buy a thing! Breakfast at Tiffany’s is not a joke; even though they might frown on you dropping crumbs on their pristine floors from your glazed chocolate pastry from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Anyway, the reason I’m reiterating this advice is that one of my prime suggestions has always been the Steuben Glass flagship store smack in the middle of this miracle mile of retail overindulgence. It’s glassware to die for and, along with domestic usage, some of the glass sculpture is astonishing. I think you know where I’m going with this.

Three years ago some executive(s) at an outfit called Schottenstein Stores Corporation, which operates retail chains (including Value City Furniture and the DWS shoe stores), bought Steuben from Corning Glass Works just as the economy started sliding into the dumper. Steuben was pretty much a vanity business for Corning since its founding in 1903 (yes, 1903!) and only kept it open for prestige, not profit, and through the years sought their fortune elsewhere in manufacturing technically-inclined glass-based products and brought themselves into the modern age by making stuff for high-tech applications, like computer monitors and LCD televisions. The offer from Schottenstein must have sent smirk-modes onto the faces of the inhabitants of the corner offices at Corning, big time. Anyway, the sale was completed, three years go by and Mr. and Mrs. Schottenstein have egg on their faces and Steuben will be no more by the end of the year. The going-out-of-business sale is in full swing as we speak and you can buy a 2” x 3” glass hand warmer in the shape of a cat for $200, instead of $300. What a bargain!

I must jump in here and confess that I do own a Steuben paperweight in the shape of a seashell (yeah, I know, what else?). I bought it for myself in about 1985 when I was feeling flush and, I must say, I’ve never regretted it. It’s really beautiful and one of my favorite tchotchkes and it will always remain in the rotation on my shelves. However, I’ve looked through the sale items and have decided the prices continue to be out of my league; so I will value my one small piece of Steuben and love it twice as much.