Gracious Home bankrupt

Its pretty impressive that they made it this long. Most confusing setup ever, with the 4 or so different storefronts on the UES, selling name-brand stuff at significant premium to big chains or the internets, and the smarmy attitude. They didn't have the service/knowledge that a small retailer needs to survive, nor the pricing of a big box or virtual store.

Agreed, all points.

I think this is very unfortunate. Gracious Home is a local business that served the UWS and UES home needs for many years -- long before the big box stores came along. I never encountered any bad attitude and in fact learned lots about housekeeping, best cleaning products to use, plumbing, and paint from the people who worked there. They would sell products you couldn't get anywhere else (e.g., certain furniture cleaners and polishes) and would also help you get things fixed, e.g., vacuums. And when we were doing a recent renovation and buying things like decorative hardware and faucets, they matched the prices at other places including the Internet. Plus they'd special order things that no big box store would do, as when we needed a drain basket for our kitchen sink. It was a $12 item but they took lots of care to get it right where folks at HD and BBB didn't even know what we were talking about.

It's always a loss when a local business, including a local mini-chain, gets crushed by the big guys. I hope they emerge after reorganization.

Gracious Homes carries many small items that are difficult to purchase elsewhere except on the Internet. IMO there's a difference in the quality level of their merchandise from that of Bed Bath & Beyond. I go to both stores, but they are different. GH has everything and maybe that's part of their problem - too much inventory. At least at their Third Avenue location, I've found their salespeople to be very helpful.

Oh, how sad. I love that store. Dang.

Yes. agree too. great staff.
But the Crain's release is very spare on details (this WAS a privately held company). Bankruptcies can be STRATEGIC, as in "prepackaged bankruptcy". That is often cited as an abuse whereby companies can simply walk away from debt and start again with a new name or even the old name if the new corp buys the name etc etc etc.

This is a big shame. It was the only place that carried vacuum cleaner bags for my cr@ppy vacuum cleaner

Type vacuum cleaner model into google and add the word bag and see what it gets you.

Well that is one solution, but I liked being able to count on Gracious Home

overpriced stuff you could have found in most of the big box stores

"overpriced stuff you could have found in most of the big box stores"

Not completely. Much of their merchandise is unique or hard to find & much of it is really beautiful, like the purple cashmere throw blanket I bought a while back. Never seen anything like it, only Gracious had it.

Can't say I'm sad about this. I try to shop local, but the sales people at GH were awful to me.

Not a huge fan of Gracious Home, but a fan nonetheless. Prices are high, but it's nice having a place that knows my building, has knowledgeable staff and usually has the obscure thing I am looking for. I used them as the go-to place for things slightly out of the ordinary, or anytime i had questions on a product. They are a good resource to have on the upper west side and I hope they stick around. The opening of Bed Bath Beyond down the block on the UWS clearly ate into their business--but the staff at BBY were never very helpful. I was always impressed how they opened a big store on the UWS underground--clearly saving $$ on retail space. The 6th ave store seems like it was one of the nails in the coffin--a sound decision based on all the new buildings going up in the area--but very bad timing.

Gracious home website says it's just a strategic filing. http://www.gracioushome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/GHPressRoomView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051 Let's see what happens.