Colorful Columbus Avenue Fashion Retailer
Taking Her Final Bow BY JACKSON CHEN
W
hile they may be charmed by the outdoor assortment of brightly colored hats and the window displays, these days Upper West Siders are most likely drawn in by the handwritten notes of “SALE” and “closing” pasted up on the corner boutique at West 73rd Street and Columbus Avenue. Within the first few steps, the red-spectacled owner eagerly greets her customers before they begin browsing the quaint fashion accessories store. After an almost instantaneous elevator eyes glance, the owner is just as quick on the draw in serving up a compliment about the customer’s style, attire, or smile. The owner, Roslyn Grant, has been operating her Upper West Side outpost, Roslyn, for about 20 years. The modest space is filled with her personally curated collection of classic jewelry and fashionable hats that she resolutely insists must serve to complement the spirit of the person wearing them. “I think the person should stand out, not their accessories,” Grant said. “When accessories overpower someone, they’re trying to tell a story they don’t know and that’s insecurity.” Over the years, Grant’s one-of-akind personality has earned her a loyal base of customers who visit Roslyn when they’re searching for an equally unique piece of jewelry. Grant, admittedly bad with names, is much better with faces and readily recalls the ballet dancer who strolls in with her daughter, even as she is taking care of a new customer looking at engagement rings for his fiancée. But Grant, who said she’s a little over 50, a little more over 60, but much younger than Joan Rivers — who died at 81 two years ago — explained she is closing up shop by the end of the month for personal reasons. “I’ve been here many years and sometimes you feel like it’s time to
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JACKSON CHEN
Roslyn Grant has run her fine jewelry and fashion shop on Columbus Avenue for 20 years.
move on,” Grant said, hastening to add that it’s not for financial reasons. “I happen to love the Upper West Side, but for right now I need to take some time off for myself.” Though her shop will soon vanish from the avenue’s roster of mom and pops stores, Grant said she’ll never lose her connection to the area. After moving across the park from the Upper East Side — which she dismissed as “cold and materialistic” — she felt at home with the creative energy of the Upper West Side. It was after a divorce that the neighborhood served as the blank slate for Grant’s reimagining of herself, which eventually led to her opening Roslyn on Columbus Avenue. A former version of her boutique, jointly run with her then-husband, was filled with mass manufactured jewelry that she felt was ugly and lacked any distinctive allure. “I would say I don’t like those, and he would say but someone’s
JACKSON CHEN
Roslyn offers the owner’s personally curated collection of fine jewelry.
going to like them,” Grant recalled. “That’s not good enough. I don’t want everyone to like what I have because then it’s like McDonald’s.” She added, “I want it to be unique, and I only wanted to sell what I loved.” Now Grant boasts everything from floppy summer hats to rose
gold necklaces, diamond rings. and ruby earrings. “This was my expression,” Grant said of her business. “I was very happy, and many days I’d go home with a very big smile on my face, I didn’t need anything else.”
c ROSLYN, continued on p.14
July 14 - 27, 2016 | ManhattanExpressNews.nyc