auto.

Dear Friends,

We are writing to let you know that auto has closed. The cost of doing business in New York and the current economic climate has forced us reluctantly into this decision.

We’ve worked so hard over the last decade to build the kind of business that we could be tremendously proud of. And we have been. We were surprised and excited to become pioneers in the meatpacking district 10 years ago with our “lifestyle” storefront showroom where we represented 5 NYC based designers. We quickly became a retail laboratory for emerging talent of all design categories- jewelry, home, bedding, baby, art, books and gifts. We took pride in our “modern mom and pop shop” that championed small business ideals. It wasn’t always easy and we didn’t always know what we were doing but we grew slowly and organically from our brick and mortar store to our website, from one store to two.

Auto., the mini department store, brought a thoughtfully edited collection of wares to design-savvy customers around the world. And we had the best customers! It was a pleasure curating retail experiences for them, especially our infamous yard sales in our lovely garden. We loved growing and collaborating with our amazing and stimulating designers, launching lines and hosting events. We also enjoyed growing with our neighborhood and being founding members of the Meatpacking District Initiative. The meatpacking district is virtually unrecognizable from when we first opened our doors and we are so proud to be a small part of the area’s more recent renaissance.

We will miss our auto family more than we can say. To all our designers, customers, neighbors, editors, bloggers, UPS Jorge and USPS Sofie, Lucy and Edie’s friends and our beloved and loyal staff words simply cannot express the love and gratitude we feel for you and all those who supported us in numerous ways all these years.

We are reluctant and saddened to close but we know we must embrace change and what lies ahead. As our former neighbor Florent Morellet said, “New York is the city of changes. People forget this is what they love about it.“ As of now we have no future plans to reopen either the store or the website but we promise to keep you informed of our whereabouts should this change.

We urge you to continue to patronize small businesses. They need you more than ever right now.

Much love and peace

auto mini department design shop in meatpacking district new york | cherrypatter nyc- spot-on ideas auto design shop for home goods accessories bedding, toys, jewelry missoni towels, john robshaw bedding, gifts washington meatpacking district new york city

Also, in this weeks Time Out. A story on unique shops for wedding rings.

Moritz Glik R384 chain ring, $1,360, at Auto, 803 Washington St between Gansevoort and Horatio Sts (212-229-2292, thisisauto.com)

Unique wedding rings - Time Out New York Express lane: Unique wedding rings. Article in Time Out New York Weddings

A nice callout this week for Auto. in Time Out as a unique shop for wedding registries.

New York City wedding registries - Time Out New York Forget plain white dishes from Bed Bath & Beyond; create registries at these unique shops to get what you really want.