Zukkies owner Mark Jacobowitz chilling on a Break from the Bike Shop. — Photos by Joel Myers
Zukkies is an unlikely mix: part bike shop, part vintage store, both sides fully loaded with furniture, clothes and just about everything else. The store occupies three storefronts on Bushwick Avenue between Boerum and Johnson, just off the Montrose stop on the L.
With every visit, I like to take advantage of this unique blend of commercial real estate, roaming through the odd mix of lamps, furniture, clothes and collectibles as my flat tire gets fixed next door. The bike shop has a great turnaround and the mechanics can handle a wide range bike repairs.
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If you ask Mark Jacobowitz, who runs the bike-shop side, he can give you a run-down on anything and everything your bike might need to be in perfect working order. Best of all, the rates they charge are always Bushwick-cheap. In the back they have racks of bicycles for sale (they buy them, too), and can probably give you one of the best deals in the neighborhood if you’re on the prowl for a new ride.
Next door the walls are stacked with furniture and quirky, cool odds and ends — antique clocks, tables and chairs, weird animal statues, vintage framed prints, and pretty much anything else that happens to pass through Kings County. As with any vintage shop, stuff rotates in and out. The clothing selection tends to be scant but a few great finds are to be had. Prices are unbelievably cheap with shirts as low as $3-$5. The emphasis here is on the furniture, though, and Ellen Pezza, who runs the vintage side, says they are stocked to serve local nomads.
“People are always moving in and out and they always need furniture,” she said. Anyone in need of a just-moved-into-the-hood-and-my-apartment’s-drab-as-hell furniture spree would do well to start with the selection here.
Mark and Ellen make the commute from Staten Island and Park Slope, respectively, every day. They have run the store together for about five years.
The recession seems not to have negatively affected their business model.
“Running a small business always has its ups and downs,” said Ellen. “But we’ve been doing good here.”
At this no-frills, budget end of the retail spectrum, and with a one-of-a-kind inventory mix, Zukkies will likely — and hopefully — be around for a long time to come.
Zukkies
279 Bushwick Avenue | 718-456-0048
Sun-Fri: 11-8:30, Sat: 10-8:30
chillinoncentral June 18th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I’ve been to Zukkies… picked up a painting there at a very good price (careful, there are some steals but some items seem a bit pricier than they should be). I’ll need to visit again. Hey isn’t that a “5″ at the end of the name? Zukkie5?
Joel M June 18th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Good question about the 5. Everything from online searches and from what I remember talking to them points to it in fact being “Zukkies”, not “Zukkie5″. I’m thinking it was just some creative font-making gone a bit awry, but there might be some kind of back story to it.
JL June 18th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Zukkies is pretty sweet Mark gave my girlfriend a great deal on a nice schwinn, and she loves it. rides it everyday, they have some sweet stuff and their inventory is always changing so be sure to check back in on a weekly basis if your looking for something out of the ordinary
brokemc June 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Mark sold me a great bike. Great asset to the neighborhood. give him (and/or his store love.)