The Town Shop

Danny Koch’s grandmother, the legendary bra fitter Selma Koch, always told him that there was a good side of Broadway and a bad side of Broadway. Move their women’s intimate apparel business — the iconic, almost 130-year-old Town Shop — across the street, from west to east, and be prepared for the consequences, she warned. Danny and his father didn’t heed her advice.

It’s unlikely that Selma Koch (who upon her death was described by The New York Times as “95 and a 34B”) had a pandemic in mind when she wagged her proverbial finger years ago. But there is no doubt that the Town Shop, now housed on the east side of Broadway at 82nd Street, clearly marked by bright pink, retro signage, has suffered recently.

“This Christmas season was probably the most crushing month that I have ever had in my career,” says Koch, 61, and the fourth-generation owner of the Upper West Side fixture, with a hint of sadness. “Every day I woke up going maybe this is the day that we will do big business, maybe this is the day that they will come in and shop. And it just never really happened.”