The Corner of West Broadway and Duane Shows Where Tribeca's Kids' Businesses Went

The corner storefront at 123 West Broadway and Duane sold children's clothes from 2022 until early 2026. A Uno held the space for a long time before it moved to the Village in 2021. Babycottons, a children's line made from Peruvian cotton, took over in 2022. Willow & Zoey, a women's clothing shop, opened in the smaller connected unit in late 2023. Tribeca Citizen reported in December 2025 that both would close the following month and that fine jeweler Shahla Karimi would take the full commercial unit.

In the same building, on the stretch between Duane and Reade, Tutu School has taken the former Lance Lappin space. It's a ballet program whose youngest class starts at six months.

That one address shows the pattern running through Tribeca's children's businesses. Clothing stores are closing, and the newcomers sell classes, drop-ins and memberships, paid for one hour or one semester at a time.

What One Building Has Housed Since 2021

The order of tenants at 123 West Broadway shows the change more clearly than any single opening.

1. A Uno, the longtime tenant of the corner space, left for the Village in 2021.
2. Babycottons opened in that space in 2022, and Willow & Zoey opened in the smaller unit in late 2023.
3. Both announced in December 2025 that they would close. Willow & Zoey owner Suzette LaValle told Tribeca Citizen that she hadn't wanted to leave the neighborhood, but the jeweler's insurer wouldn't cover the space with a separate tenant in it.
4. Tutu School, a national dance franchise with eight locations in the city, took the former Lance Lappin space between Duane and Reade. Tribeca Citizen later reported that it was aiming to open September 14.
5. Shahla Karimi, which describes itself as a woman-owned and woman-led fine jewelry brand, is aiming to open on the corner for the 2026 holiday season, according to Tribeca Citizen.

Tutu School was founded in San Francisco in 2008 by Genevieve Custer Weeks, a former Oakland Ballet dancer who started teaching preschoolers while she was still performing. It now has 120 locations in three countries. The Tribeca location's page lists four levels: Baby Ballet for 6 to 18 months, Tutu Toddlers for 18 months to 3 years, Exploring Ballet for ages 3 to 5, and Primary Ballet Prep for ages 5 to 8.

Within one building, the children's business went from selling a cotton romper to selling a weekly class.

The Clothing Shops That Closed, and the Ones Still Open

The latest closure is the best known. Koh's Kids, the children's clothing store Grace Koh founded in 1995 at Greenwich and Chambers, has closed permanently, Tribeca Citizen reported on September 24. Koh retired in 2015 and sold the business to Jared Levine of Jamari International, an importer and distributor of high-end children's fashion brands.

The same report listed the earlier departures and the shops still open. Here is where each one stood as of late September 2026.

Where the closed shops went says as much as the closings themselves. Jacadi's space on Reade became a nail salon. Babycottons' corner is turning into a jewelry store. Naturino's old space at 147 Reade is now Designer Residence, which describes itself as curated fashion with designer residencies. None of the spaces that children's clothing shops gave up went to another children's clothing shop.

Naturino is the exception, and it moved instead of closing. Tribeca Citizen reported in June that the children's shoe store was moving around the corner to Chambers, and the shop's own site now gives 157 Chambers Street as its address.

Playday Charges by the Hour

The newest children's business in Tribeca makes a different kind of product. Playday opened at 72 Warren in mid-August, Tribeca Citizen reported on August 19, three days after it opened. It's a children's art space, and its pricing is the clearest sign of how kids' businesses now make money.

Founder Gregory Okshteyn, an architect and designer, opened the first Playday in Long Island City about eight years ago, after his five-year-old asked to do art after school and he couldn't find a class nearby. Tribeca is the seventh location. Families can pay by the hour, the half day, the semester or the year, and every day can run as a camp day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A 60-minute drop-in class costs $45, 10-packs are available, and the Tribeca space holds 30 children.

Okshteyn described the approach to Tribeca Citizen in its October 1 profile:

"We don't teach, we play. We play Basquiat, we play Mondrian."

The website posts each day's activities, so a drop-in can be different every visit. The list includes abstract expression, bookmaking, sculpture, paper play and cartooning. Okshteyn told the outlet that building a schedule flexible enough for that took five years. The product is a time slot that a family can book again next week.

Memberships and Shared Rooms Are Doing the Same Thing

Playday isn't the first business in the neighborhood to sell time.

Casa Primary opened at 80 Franklin in January 2025 as a membership club for parents and children. Tribeca Citizen described Montessori-based play, camps, parties and yoga, along with activities such as sewing, toy-building, photography and cooking. Its current site still offers tours, memberships, events and weekend hours at the Franklin Street address.

On Warren, two children's businesses now share one storefront. Cricket's Candy Creations moved into Fashion Squad School's space at 18 Warren in January 2026. The two businesses run separately and planned occasional joint workshops and add-ons for parties, according to Tribeca Citizen.

A membership, a workshop and a party add-on all work the way Playday's drop-in does. Each one sells an experience a family comes back for, which a rack of clothing can't do.

Selling Time Has Its Own Risks

Selling hours doesn't guarantee a business will last. Playto, a daycare and play space that opened at Hudson and Leonard in late 2024, closed on August 31, 2026. Tribeca Citizen reported that the director's note to parents cited limited enrollment, and that families could transfer to the company's Battery Park City location. When it opened, its offerings included infant and toddler care, drop-ins and a romper room.

The corner at 90 Hudson has changed hands before. The Portfolio School moved into the space in 2019, and Playto took the corner after that school's run ended. An hourly business needs enough families booking hours every week. Playto's closing shows that the hourly model faces the same test the clothing shops did.

Adult Storefronts Are Changing the Same Way

The pattern isn't limited to children. Tribeca's adult storefronts are moving toward selling time, too.

After 35 years in the neighborhood, Finlay + Gage moved its string instrument sales business to 57th Street. David Gage String Instruments and The Realist are staying in the 113 Chambers and 95 Reade space. In an update to Tribeca Citizen's report, Judy Gage said the Chambers Street side would become a space for master classes focused on string bass and cello, affordable rehearsal space, and an informal art studio and gallery. The selling side of the business moved uptown. The part that stays in Tribeca is turning into rooms for lessons and rehearsals.

On Broadway, STRONG Pilates was slated to open its first New York studio on October 24 at 345 Broadway, on the west side of the street between Leonard and Worth, Tribeca Citizen reported. Its Rowformer and Bikeformer classes combine Pilates with rowing or cycling.

Back at West Broadway and Duane, the building that sold baby clothes for years now has a ballet school signed on for the former Lance Lappin space, and a jeweler is aiming to open on the corner for the 2026 holiday season.

When a children's clothing store becomes a nail salon, a jewelry store or a ballet studio, the block changes, and that can affect what the homes around it are worth. If you want to see how your Tribeca loft or condo compares now, Josue Gonzalez Realty can start with numbers. Get your instant home valuation.