Shops in Chelsea

A single narrow shop on Tenth Avenue at 21st, opened in 2003 by the gallerist Paula Cooper and the editor Jack Macrae. Literary fiction, translation, art and photography, poetry and a children's section, with art hung on the walls between the shelves. There is a story hour at eleven on Wednesdays and a long-running readings series. Open every day.

Mon to Sun, 11am to 7pm

A very small shop wedged into the ground floor of the Hotel Chelsea block on West 23rd, hung floor to ceiling with used and vintage instruments. There has been a music shop in this building since 1908 and this one has been here for decades. Dan behind the counter would rather talk about a guitar than sell you one. You can walk in with no intention of buying anything.

Mon to Sat, noon to 6pm. Closed Sunday

A family workwear store on Sixth Avenue between 16th and 17th, founded in 1963 and now run by the second and third generations. Jeans stacked by waist size, Carhartt and military surplus, work boots and a wall of belts. Staff will measure you and will also leave you alone. It is the last shop of its kind left on this stretch of Sixth Avenue.

Mon to Sat, 10am to 6pm. Closed Sunday

Fishs Eddy has been selling surplus restaurant china and its own city-themed tableware since 1986, first on Broadway at 19th, and it opened inside Chelsea Market in 2026. The stock starts with heavy diner crockery and mugs with jokes on them. The 212 skyline pattern has been printed for decades. Prices run from a few dollars up, which is unusual for a shop in this building. You can browse for ten minutes without anyone approaching you.

Mon to Sat, 10am to 8pm. Sun, 10am to 7pm

George Demetrious left Greece, learned chocolate in France and opened on Christopher Street in 1923, which makes this the oldest chocolate house in Manhattan. The Chelsea Market counter came in 2016 and still works from his recipes, including the molded Statue of Liberty that has been in the case for most of a century. Everything is sold by weight out of a glass case and you can buy one piece.

Mon to Sun, 11am to 7pm

A non-profit founded in 1976 to sell artists' books, now on Eleventh Avenue up near 26th. It moves more than thirty thousand publications a year for artists and small presses, which means the tables are full of things no other shop carries. Nothing is expensive and nobody follows you round. It shuts for two weeks in late July to count stock.

Tue to Sat, 11am to 7pm. Sun, 11am to 6pm. Closed Monday, and closed for annual inventory from about July 20 to August 3

Piedmontese butchers have been curing on this corner since 1925, and half the kitchens in the city buy their salumi here. Ask for a sandwich at the counter and they will build it off the same case.

Mon to Sat, 10am to 5pm. Closed Sunday