(Google Maps)
Frames For You, a picture frame shop located at 136 West 72nd Street, appears to have closed over the holiday season. And some former customers are claiming the owner shut down with no warning … while still in possession of their artwork and money.
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Frustrated customers have been communicating (and posting negative reviews) on Yelp, where the business is self-described as “a locally-owned Fine Custom Framing business located in the Upper West Side neighborhood in Manhattan for over forty years.”
Ten consecutive 1-star ratings fill the shuttered business’ first page. The first complaint came on December 21, 2021, when a customer claims to have left a 50% deposit only to soon find the store closed and all of their forthcoming calls and emails ignored.
The second complaint, posted on December 31, 2021, makes a different but perhaps connected allegation. “The owner of the store has not paid its workers for over a month’s work,” this Yelp user wrote. “Laid them off right before the holidays without any notification, and did not allow them to inform customers of the store’s situation. The owner of the store needs to take accountability with the amount of work she has stolen from both her customers and her workers.”
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The ensuing complaints echo the first one, with multiple individuals claiming to have lost large deposits with no communication from the owner.
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A search on the Department of State Division of Corporations indicates that an initial filing was made for Frames For You NY, LLC in March 2018. As the business has existed since 1978 (per framesforyouny.com, which still appears to be active), it is likely that this is the date in which a new owner took over the store. While a name is not displayed, the owner’s address on record is located at 201 East 80th Street, an upscale building also known as the Richmond Condominium.
We’ve contacted Frames For You by phone and email and will provide an update if and when we have one.
Thank you – i for one have two pieces of art being held hostage in that store after paying in full and in advance for them to be cleaned/reframed. After years and years of trusting my artwork to their capable staff – I am saddened to think that i (and many others) may be a victim of theft or a prolong bankruptcy disaster. I posted on Yelp after seeing this article – but there is little opportunity for concise investigation there. So i look forward to what you find out. I do enjoy your posts and the work you do.
If you need a great custom framing store, go to Jimmy’s Custom Framing on the east side of Broadway between 78th and 79th streets (closer to 78th). I’ve been using them for years. Great guys there, and they do great work.
Do you have any of the employees contact info? I’d love to hire them.
Hi Sunday, I checked the Frames for You web site (the Our Team portion) more closely and found a web site and email for Daniel, one of the Sales and Fitting Assistants who is a freelance illustrator. Here’s his web site link where you can find his direct email: https://danrossidraws.artstation.com/pages/contact. I also found contact info for another Frame Seller and Fitter, Claire. Here is her web site with her contact info: https://claire-mc-clusky.format.com/about. Maybe one (or both) of them can share contact info for the Joshie, Jose and Willy, the other 3 employees who are only listed by first name (like the owner Maria) on the web site. Good luck. I think it’s wonderful if you or others consider them for employment. They all seem wonderfully talented, especially Joshie who worked at the store since 1989 and has an MFA in Painting from Pratt.
The web site shows the owner’s name as Maria with a picture of her, per this link about the Team. https://framesforyouny.com/our-team.html. I hope she will do the right thing and return customer’s money and artwork.
So sad. the store started out in the early 70s, I believe, as Frames By You. Bring your art, buy frame and mat that would be custom cut to size by staff. Then use the clamps and squares and hammers and nails to complete the look. Help was there if you needed it. After the store changed focus to Frames For You, the work was always top quality and the staff had a great eye for what would look great. I haven’t been there for some time. Apparently a new owner was in over her head. I now use the store on the east side of Amsterdam between 82nd and 83rd. Been there for years and just recently expanded.
This sounds like an episode of Seinfeld. Didn’t Jerry leave all his shoes at a mom and pop shoe store on the UWS that closed after he did so? I’m sorry to hear that this happened to customers as well as the employees who lost a months worth of salary. I hope everyone is someone able to get their money and artwork returned.
My wife just received an email from a woman who said she’ll be in the shop from 11-5 until next Wednesday, 1/19. I would suggest anyone who has items there to go!
Does anyone know if the owner, Maria, still returns the customers artworks? I realized that I’m beyond late to respond, but the shop has my sentimental valued artworks for framing. I would love to have them back.