Horseman Antiques Closing Atlantic Avenue Store
BOERUM HILL – The four-story building at 351 Atlantic Avenue that houses Horseman Antiques‘ vast inventory of mid-century furniture was recently sold.
Following the $18 million sale to an unnamed investor, Donald Gianchetta will pack and close up the shop in nine months, “officially ending the era of Atlantic Avenue as an antiques row,” Brownstoner reports. Gianchetta’s two New Jersey stores will remain open.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Atlantic Avenue was lined with dozens of antique shops, from 4th Avenue all the way down to the East River, according to the article. Gianchetta founded Horseman Antiques in 1962 and opened up the 18,000-square-foot shop at 351 Atlantic (at Hoyt Street) in the late 80s, jam-packing each floor with furniture, lighting, home decor, and much more. He tells Brownstoner that much of his business is done online these days and blames the decline of antiques stores in the area on rising rents, a lack of parking, and a change in shoppers’ tastes—from antiques to midcentury furnishings.
While the 50-foot-wide building is an “architecturally significant, 1920s-era, four-story elevator commercial building,” Brownstoner says, it is not part of an historic district and the chances of it being demolished to build something higher are not likely since the property has less than 1,000 square feet of unused air rights.
The news of Horseman Antique’s closing comes on the heels of Hunting with Jake‘s shutting down at 380 Atlantic Avenue on January 28 after four years, and A Cook’s Companion shuttering at 197 Atlantic this Sunday (Feb. 4) after 20 years.
Horseman Antiques is selling off its inventory at discounted prices and has a sign displayed on its window reading, “everything must go!”—much like the small businesses that are disappearing from the changing neighborhood.
