Fivestory, a New Midtown Boutique, Chooses Careful

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York TimesFred Distenfeld and his daughter Claire Distenfeld in their new shop.

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York TimesFivestory.

On Thursday afternoon, Fred Distenfeld looked unfazed and spotless in his suit as workmen carried slabs of polished stone into the town house at 18 East 69th Street. On April 19, it will open as the boutique Fivestory.

“Those are the steps, young lady,” he said, addressing his daughter Claire, who calls her dad Fred. Now that Ms. Distenfeld, 26, is in business with her father, who for years ran Luxury Accessories International, an importer of exotic skins, as well as a manufacturer of bags and belts, she decided their relationship needed a slight adjustment.

One day she announced: “I’m going to call you Fred. Don’t ask.”

From the twinkle in his eye, Fred indicated that he was down with that.

Fivestory is actually a two-story boutique (for a total of 3,456 square feet of sales space) that will carry a curated selection of women’s and men’s clothing, jewelry, shoes, baby things and stuff for the home, which Ms. Distenfeld characterized as “things that are kind of an impulse buy.” Upon entering, visitors can go upstairs to the designer area or head down a short flight of steps to check out the home and baby goods. There is also a room for contemporary clothing, priced at roughly $100 to $600. In the rear is the shoe salon, set up like a garden, where Ms. Distenfeld plans to sell labels like Chrissie Morris, from London, and Aperlai of Paris.

Acknowledging the competition from nearby stores like Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman, not to mention online stores, Ms. Distenfeld said, “We had to hone in on our aesthetic.” Don’t expect basic pumps from Fivestory.

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York TimesMr. Distenfeld and his daughter Ms. Distenfeld.

The Distenfelds were each at a point in their careers where they wanted to do something else. Mr. Distenfeld was ready to close his business, founded in 1953 by his father. Claire, a gallerist, was feeling creatively landlocked. They started talking. About 18 months ago, they hit upon the idea of a boutique.

Who needs another boutique? Ms. Distenfeld considered that question, as she weighed her own reactions to the stores she loved, like 10 Corso Como in Milan, Browns in London and Colette in Paris. And, of course, there was the legendary Henri Bendel, on West 57th Street, which her father remembered.

“Personally, I was bored with what I saw,” she said. “One of my biggest fascinations was boring me.”

In essence, that’s the driving spirit behind her project: how to give a sense of surprise to consumers swinging from one short-term thrill to the next.
Some of the labels she will carry are well known, like Balmain, Hussein Chalayan, Thakoon and Peter Pilotto, but she said she has tried to buy the unusual pieces — and not many at that. She will also have designs by Roberta Furlanetto, who worked with Christian Lacroix Couture; the young London designer Jackie Lee, and a new Paris label called Heimstone. (“This is what Isabel Marant was to me 10 years ago,” she said.)

And very shrewdly, she has teamed up with Chris Gibbs, owner of the Los Angeles store Union, who will help her select men’s clothing and use his market contacts to land exclusive lines, like Vizvim from Japan and specialized Nikes for men and women.