Thread Alert

Like a bolt from the blue, Fabric Row's pushing to change its old-school image.

by A.D. Amorosi

Michael T. Regan FERDER MORE: "I saw visitors ranging from textile students to designers," says Wendy Verna of Fourth's changing face. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

It used to be known as "Der Ferder" (Yiddish for "Fourth"). The stretch of South Fourth Street between Lombard and Washington had it all — dry goods, wet ones — before getting stitched up tight with the tag "Fabric Row"; before becoming a block filled with fine cloth merchants like Marmelstein's, Adler's, Kincus, Albert Zoll's and A&J's. These shops are still there, happily, often ruling with a taffeta-wrapped fist regarding what comes, goes. But with the arrival of shops like Jinxed Clothing, Bus Stop Boutique, Juju hair salon and Red Hook Coffee & Tea in the last year and a half, a movement's emerged — one destined to change the fabric of Fabric Row.

Fourth on Fourth — a monthly event where shops on the block stay open late, holding events like trunk shows on fourth Fridays — started as a fourth Wednesday event in October. The idea is to show off the street's newest wares in collaboration with its oldest heads. But the roots run deep.

South Street Headhouse District (SSHD) director David Hammond says his organization sought to add businesses to Fabric Row that would make it into a retail/dining destination. Hammond's delighted not only by the independence of the new business owners but by the way they've gotten together for joint promotions. There's a sad irony that one of the earliest establishments to change the street's look — Tim Bowen's Falling Cow art gallery — is leaving. But another adventuresome enterprise, Patrick Rodgers' Digital Ferret Records, is taking its place. Record stores, art galleries, coffee shops and salons are what Elena Brennan (of the new fancy shoe store Bus Stop Boutique), Wendy Verna (of Octo Design and a member of the SSHD board) want. While Verna drives Fourth on Fourth from a conceptual standpoint, Brennan marshals troops on the street to help it shed what one anonymous seller calls "the street's grumpy old schmatte merchant image."

Brennan — a British expat who has lived in Bella Vista for the past 12 years and who opened her snazzy shoe store in April — knew Fabric Row's staid history but felt change in the wind. "I wanted to be on the street — it reminds me of NoLita — as changes were happening and see it transition from family-run fabric shops to trendy new boutiques." Though she wasn't certain she'd be welcomed, she found open arms from rag salesmen and fabric shoppers pleasantly surprised to find a shoe boutique tucked among the fabric stores. "Quite a few customers were buying shoes to match fabric just purchased to make the whole outfit complete."

Still, she knew the fabric shops — some around since 1919 — were old-school and closed around 5 p.m. "They were a little resistant to staying open [late]," says Brennan. Marmelstein's, Jack B Fabrics and Adler's are among older shops that have begun to lend support and come to meetings with ideas.

Verna brought her design company to Fourth Street after selling her building on Sixth between South and Bainbridge nearly five years ago. "I saw couples with newborns in strollers and ... visitors ranging from textile students to designers to people coming to get their hair cut," she says. Verna recognized the merchants' old-school business mentality but did not bond immediately with them. "Not at all," says Verna. "I'm the vice chair of the South Street [Headhouse] District and when I went in to introduce myself in Wilks, they escorted me to the door. People were not friendly and seemed intimidated by change."

But after a cell phone audio history tour/art installation earlier this year regarding the religion, culture and history of the community (Octo donated creative work advertising it; a coffee-table book about Fabric Row is in discussion), the chill thawed.

Hammond says Councilman Frank DiCicco is on their side and that change within his district is imminent. In other words, Fourth on Fourth could be a harbinger of boom. "New traffic signals, sidewalks, bike racks and pedestrian lighting — there's potential for everything looking brighter down here."

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

The next Fourth on Fourth will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Fri., Dec. 28.