Marché Rue Dix

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After tiring of the mundane, dusty feel to many vintage stores, Nilea Alexander and her husband, Lamine Diagne, decided to transform the space beside their popular French-Senegalese restaurant Café Rue Dix into the contemporary vintage boutique and marketplace Marché Rue Dix. A vintage collector since age 18, Alexander originally fueled the business with her own collection. Today, much of the inventory consists of West African and Parisian imports, but Alexander also scours New York, Vermont, and Texas, curating the store’s eclectic style one piece at a time. The colorful racks of printed dresses, skirts, and pants are a joy to sift through but are not the only treasures Marché has to offer. Jewelry sourced from local New York artists gleams from glass cases (with surprisingly low price tags). Bags of Ajiri Coffee, ground from Kenyan whole beans, and tins of Harney & Sons teas add a gourmet touch to the shop’s repertoire. And unlike many vintage stores, this gift boutique smells of neither dust nor mothballs but rather an extensive array of hand-dipped incense, candles, and cold-pressed soaps. — Vanessa Karalis