It felt like Christmas when I arrived at Kim Seybert’s Garment District warehouse. Immediately upon entry I was struck by the abundance of holiday decor. There was everything you could possibly imagine: from flowing jeweled tree skirts, to intricately beaded stockings, table runners, placemats, napkins, ornaments, the list goes on. But fret not, if holidays are not your forte there were plenty of items to make any hostess proud. There were pieces from the current Spring 2015 catalog as well as one of a kind samples spanning the last two decades.
For those not familiar with the brand, Kim Seybert is the epitome of luxury tabletop decor. Since launching her New York based label in 1997 her designs had lined the shelves of Neiman Marcus, Barneys, and Bloomingdales. Known for handcrafted beaded designs, luxury linens, and a range of fashion lifestyle accessories. “Life is a Banquet” is a quote from Kim Seybert and it most accurately describes the philosophy of her brand.
I want to point out that this was not a typical sample sale but better yet an “everything must go” type of affair. The brand is moving its warehouse to New Jersey and closing the New York City location. Although the showroom, located on the ninth floor, will remain open. So guess what New Yorkers! We are in luck because the prices offered at this sale were unbelievable. Once I had a moment to compose myself and grab one of the paper shopping bags, offered by the helpful staff, I went to check out the price list. Posted on every wall and easy to spot, prices started at just $5 (actually $2.50 if you took advantage of various 2 for 1 offers) and topped out at $35 for tree skirts but as luck would have it those got marked down to $20 while I was rummaging through the boxes.
Prices are likely to have dropped even further today since everything must go.
The beaded table runners were certainly the hottest ticket at this sale. When I arrived there were only holiday themed pieces, like this Holiday Sprig table runner. Priced at only $25 no wonder people were going crazy. They usually retail for $600 – $990 based on size. Unfortunately the runners were the first to sell out. Moving on to the placemats displayed on the tables lined against the windows. The shaped styles were $10 and all others including the intricately jeweled and beaded styles were $5. Yes $5! How unbelievable when some of them retail upwards of $200 each or $800 for a set of four. At this point it was pretty hard to find identical sets so like many other shoppers I resorted to mix and match my finds. This entailed lifting up the heavily beaded piles in search of matching pairs. Forget about the gym, this was all the cardio I needed for the daylol. It was actually extremely hot inside. There was a large fan in the back of the room but near the windows where majority of the shoppers were congregating it was becoming unbearably hot.
Melamine and acrylic placemats for $5
Beaded placemats for $5
Jewel beaded shaped placemats for $10
In need of a break I gravitated towards the fans and the barware section. Again with everything priced at $5 it was a bargain goldmine. Martini and cognac glasses, champagne flutes, specialty glassware all lined the right hand side wall near the elevators. The staff offered wrapping paper so you don’t need to worry about things breaking on the way home. There were also various miscellaneous things like candle snuffers, cocktail stirrers, bottle jackets, etc.
The middle of the warehouse was filled with boxes of napkins, tablecloths, shower curtains, and robes. If you knew what to look for there were cocktail napkin sets (set of 6) with their own box and in pristine condition. Like these Drinks Cocktail Napkins or Six Shoe Embroidered Cocktail Napkins that still retail for $54 but at the sale they were $5. These can make such a cute gift, especially if you found the brand new set, sealed in its original box. There were also boxes filled with napkin rings at 2 for $5. Many styles from the current catalog. Again mix and match is your friend here although with a bit of digging you could find a few identical pieces.
Napkins and cocktail napkin sets for $5
Napkin rings 2 for $5
When the sale was first announced the prices advertised listed a range from $5 – $500 so I’ll admit that my expectations were rather modest. I am well familiar with Kim Seybert’s brand and how much it retails at major department stores so I was absolutely floored when I saw how cheap things were selling. I knew I couldn’t let this opportunity slip and I had to buy and buy a lot. At the end of the day I ended up with five huge shopping bags that I could not even lift 😉
Tree skirts for $20 retail $600
Christmas stockings for $15 retail $120
Christmas decor $5-$20
Pillows for $15
Coming Soon: Get ready for the Part 2 of this recap where I will be sharing my finds.
Kim Seybert Warehouse 37 West 37th St. Floor 8 Thursday 10am – 7pm
Hi there. I read your Kim Seybert post last month and just wanted to let you know that TJ Maxx has several different large beaded Kim Seybert table runners for $39.99. Not as good as the $25 sample sale price but they're classic styles (not holiday) so still an absolute steal. I picked up a couple at the location on 1st and 60th this morning. Not sure if other locations have them too. Just wanted to pass along the intel in case you were still looking for table runners!
Thanks so much for sharing the info. You're absolutely right! Beaded runners at that price are such a steal. I will have to check out that location in the next few days. I tried my local TJ Maxx yesterday but no dice.
That warehouse certainly has a lot of the good stuff. I hope those boxes upon boxes of fabrics are being handled well, and are being stored properly. It would be a shame if they were damaged in any way.
Hi there. I read your Kim Seybert post last month and just wanted to let you know that TJ Maxx has several different large beaded Kim Seybert table runners for $39.99. Not as good as the $25 sample sale price but they're classic styles (not holiday) so still an absolute steal. I picked up a couple at the location on 1st and 60th this morning. Not sure if other locations have them too. Just wanted to pass along the intel in case you were still looking for table runners!
Hi Sonkie23!
Thanks so much for sharing the info. You're absolutely right! Beaded runners at that price are such a steal. I will have to check out that location in the next few days. I tried my local TJ Maxx yesterday but no dice.
That warehouse certainly has a lot of the good stuff. I hope those boxes upon boxes of fabrics are being handled well, and are being stored properly. It would be a shame if they were damaged in any way.
Traci Mcdaniel @ Carolina Material Handling Inc