A self-described “rag man,” Cassell wants to “rehab” the building and keep Garment District retail operations at 200 Broadway St.
Cassell intends to keep these operations running during renovation, which could begin as soon as next spring, provided he reaches an agreement with Halperin and secures the requisite permits. The Garment District could move, during the overhaul, to a temporary location.
The loss of the Garment District would be a loss to East Cambridge as well, Cassell says, in that it offers both jobs and inexpensive clothes. The store employs 30 workers full-time.
The store manager, Liz M. Donovan, has been there for eight years, and isn’t eager for the business to change.
“I think that people are making a courageous effort [to keep it as is],” Donovan says. “I think the building’s beautiful. I’m not for making it into condos.”
The allure of the Garment District lies in both the clothes and whatever distinguishes it from an upscale boutique or an inexpensive outlet.
“We aren’t Walmart,” Cassell says. “We’re a local organization.”
This is reflected in the store’s clerk-client relationship, in which a surly, Boston-tinged hipster indifference might mask latent friendliness.
“I think it has the best aspects of Cambridge in that it’s a different kind of place,” Donovan says. “It has the Cambridge attitude of people working hard, treating each other well, and offering something at a reasonable price for everyone.”
Some say the customers make the difference.
“There’s a very wide variety of people we get. Kirsten Dunst came in last month,” Cassell says, counting movie-studio traffic, teenage bargain-hunters, and Caribbean immigrants among his clientele. “There’s a huge mix, and that’s what I like about it. You never know who’s going to come in.”
They’re drawn by value and, the staff thinks, by atmosphere.
“We try to keep it casual enough that people can come in and be themselves and be comfortable,” Donovan says. “People appreciate having a break from the everyday.”
Most of all, for this warehouse full of kitschy cardigans and designer pinstripe blazers priced as-is, it’s the clothes.
Emily J. Wallick, 15, came into Boston from Hamilton, Mass., with four friends specifically to shop at the Garment District.
“There’s a lot of oldies stuff. It’s all so colorful and happy,” she says. “The last times [I came here] I bought sunglasses, then studs, and now I’m buying a skirt,” she says, holding up a flowing, brown wisp of fabric. “Random things. I like everything here.”
—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.