Plaza Too Closes After 23 Years on Purchase Street

The other shoe dropped.

Plaza Too, one of Rye's leading shoes and accessories emporiums, closed Saturday after more than 23 years on Purchase Street, the latest local store to go under during the economic downturn.

And with markdowns of as much as 75 percent on prestige brand names, the store's final hours Saturday looked like something out of 'Cinderella" with people of all ages, shapes and sizes shopping for bargains galore, trying on shoes, boots and slippers in various colors as though Prince Charming was right around the  corner and midnight would never come.

But the clock did indeed strike 12 for Plaza Too, which, ironically, was located on 35 Purchase Street, right between All Paws and the Athlete's Foot.

And while none of the employees were authorized to talk about the closing, and nobody was sure when or whether one of the owners would stop by for final goodbyes before the doors closed permanently at 6 p.m., John and Thomas Mendes, brothers and partners in Plaza Too, have previously said that their family has been in the shoe business for more than 70 years, growing from their grandfather's small shop in Larchmont in 1933 to eight boutiques in the New York metropolitan area. They said they had never seen anything like the sales drop off caused by the current economy.

"We grew up in the family business, learning all about the fit and construction of fines shoes and accessories," the brothers said on the store's web site.

But today's economic climate makes earning a retail buck difficult --especially with high rentals in prestige locations like Rye -- no matter how much savvy, customer service, beauty, quality and value the Mendes brothers brought to their Plaza Too business.

Tom Mendes, for example, presided over the chain's recent closing in New Canaan last week when he reportedly said the closing had a lot to do with the "big picture" overall.

"This was the first time ever we couldn't get credit from an outside source like a bank in 22 years, and in a downturn like this, this is when you really need it," he told the New Canaan Advertiser.  "It was like the perfect storm, we borrowed money and all of this kind of hit at the same time. Banks tightened credit and business slowed down."

But Rye's Plaza Too was nonetheless mobbed Saturday, with customers drawn in by the sign on the window that said: "Closing Doors. Take an additional 75% off on already marked down shoes and accessories."

"It's really so sad, but it's a sign of the times," said Rye Brook's Elaine Bennett, stocking up on several pairs of bargain shoes and boots. "It was a fabulous store with fabulous personal service and high quality merchandise at reasonable prices. I bought all my shoes at Plaza Too for years. It was an integral part of the Rye small town flavor with all those quaint shops on Purchase Street. And now one more is disappearing. It breaks my heart."

"It is definitely going to leave a void," said Rye's Debbie Harney, snapping up a pair of shoes that came to $5.72 with the 75 percent discount. "We need stores like this, and who knows what will come next, but one thing is for sure -- what Rye very definitely doesn't need to come in is another bank or restaurant."

As she talked, salespersons were frantically dashing up and down the stairs to and from the basement, replenishing supplies, apologizing when they couldn't find the match to that perfect pastel boot "(I've got two shoes in that size for the right foot, but none for the left in that model," sighed a pig-tailed male salesman).

Gradually, the vases, handbags, jewelry, blouses, slacks and those stiletto high heels were dwindling down to the last precious few.

It was the end of an era for Plaza Too. But down the street at Lester's Department Store, selling clothing, shoes and accessories in the old CVS building at 1037 Boston Post Road, they were already touting their "new and exciting" kids footwear department while running sales featuring $10 and $20 off on purchases of $75 or $150 or more, respectively, and touting their professional shoe fitters and guaranteeing proper fit on models such as Hunter, Naturino, Birkenstock, Primigi, Stuart Weitzman, Kenneth Cole, New Balance and more.

Despite the changing times and increased competition from stores like Lester's, Rye's Plaza Too may yet have a third act.

The chain will continue to operate through an e-commerce web site and is reportedly considering other options, such as bringing in another partner.