Panties & Lipstick for cost of a Latte @Peachfrog

Opened not long after the dramatic economic collapse of autumn 2008, discount designer store Peachfrog is coming up on its one-year anniversary party. In that time, with stock priced up to 90% off of retail, the Williamsburg shop, located on N 10th St between Bedford and Berry, has become a magnet for bargain hunters from all around the Tri-State metro area.

Case in point: as I was interviewing metal sculptor-slash-Peachfrog-co-founder Bill Norton late Thursday afternoon, a petite middle-aged shopper piped in, “I came in from Freeport!”  That’s in Nassau County on Long Island.

The store’s dirt cheap designer apparel, accessories, home goods and cosmetics have gotten press in several publications, including The New York Times, as well as in local Chinese-, Japanese- and Polish-language papers, Norton points out.

Peachfrog’s inventory is often in flux, so shoppers are best off becoming store regulars to see what design finds $5 can buy. Norton said co-owner “Howard [Blumberg] works hard to get the best stock at the best price.

“For less than a price of a coffee shop latte, I was able to snap up a pair of Italian-brand panties and a Stephane Marais lipstick—the latter of which was snapped in bulk by a makeup artist last week,” said a Peachfrog sales associate. Other brands with steady play on the racks include Von Dutch and Replay.

The store’s Williamsburg roots run deep: back in the day when Williamsburg was a community of blue-collar, Polish-American families with a waterfront that was “derelict,” said Norton, a Billysburger of some 20 years, what is today the Peachfrog showroom was once a spring roll factory. The space’s industrial origins get a nod in the store’s name, which signifies financial luck in Chinese traditional belief.

Now, Williamsburg has pushed its way into post-industrial chicdom of international renown. The warehouse hodgepodge aesthetic is de rigueur. And as Peachfrog celebrates its one-year birthday on Nov. 15, the cuisine and music of the era will be front and center. On the tentative set list, according to Norton: local girl band Ladybug Stingray and Danish popsters Asteroids Galaxy Tour.

To quote the latter, Peachfrog’s recession-proof business model has gotten the store “Around the Bend.”