Manhattan’s red-hot Meatpacking District, just below West 14th Street, is known for its daring innovation in design, fashion and art, but there is one subject that remains taboo: politics.
Tuesday’s presidential election has stirred such intense emotions that most retail employees in the district are reluctant to comment, afraid that taking sides will deter paying customers.
When a sales associate at Scoop NYC was asked who she was voting for, she conceded, “Obama. Definitely. But please don’t use my name. I don’t want to get into trouble.”
Managers at upscale boutiques like Jeffrey, Scoop, Rubin Chapelle and Ten Thousand Things are quick to say business is fine and has not been affected by the current economic crisis, but when it comes to red or blue, their tongues are tied.
It was in the few affordable boutiques of MePa that associates admitted business could be better, and a change in economic policy is needed.
“Business has been hard,” says Seiko Makino of Destination, a fashion boutique on Little West 12th Street, “I’m hoping the election will put more confidence in the economy. And yes, I’m voting for Obama.”
At Trina Turk, a fashion boutique on Gansevoort Street, feelings are the same. A typical Sunday yields $6,000, but as of 2 p.m., the store was only at $600.
“We would like business to be better, and to reach our goals,” says Julie Blackwell. “I don’t think any victory [on Tuesday] will impact us. Not until two years or so. But it can’t get any worse than now. Whoever gets elected will be an improvement.”
But then walk into shoe boutique Iris on Washington Street, which features designers like Marc Jacobs and John Galliano who’ve built empires on expressing themselves, and employees will say firmly, “We can’t comment on politics.”
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