Our store was quite a contrast to the stark streets of SoHo, often dark and gritty.ĭid your store change with the changing neighborhood? If yes, how?Īs the neighborhood gentrified, we continued to evolve and change. It was not long before I recognized that the bells and cassettes were not going to be sufficient to operate a business, so I began importing teak garden furniture from England, a great complement to the bells, many of which were designed to hang outdoors. In the store, to help stimulate the senses, we played new age music, Brian Eno, Steve Halpern, and others and began selling cassettes. Our entire family spent time in Arizona helping to build the early pieces at Arcosanti, north of Phoenix, which is now a showcase for dance, theatre, and performance art. The shop opened with a show of ceramic and bronze bells designed by the visionary architect, Paolo Soleri, produced in his Arizona workshop. My vision as the founder was inspired by a desire to help our customers use their homes as a canvas for creative self-expression, as a sanctuary for safety and comfort in alignment with nature and the senses, from sound to sight to touch to taste and smell. After we spent five years in 1,000 square feet on Broome Street, we moved to Greene Street into 3,000 square feet, where we spent the next 12 years. We opened Zona in the winter of 1980 on Broome Street below The Kitchen, a popular theatrical and performance space. Where was Zona located and when did you open the store? Co-founded by Louis Sagar in 1980, it was one of the first stores of its kind, and one of the first large-scale retail establishments in SoHo. Before SoHo was the home design capital of New York City, there was Zona.
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