A: Why, yes. If you’re not jetting off to St. Barts to hang with Puffy, surely there’s no better time than the dead of winter to send your luggage to rehab. From cleaning to full-on restoration, here are two favorite places that can make an old bag … not look like an old bag:
Artbag (735 Madison Avenue, near 67th Street; 744-2720). Now entering their sixty-seventh year, the good people at Artbag can provide any imaginable service to luggage – and handbags. (For instance, have an old alligator bag whose shape just doesn’t cut it anymore? Artbag can construct a new bag with your old bag’s material.) A particular specialty: relining bags with matching fabric. Repair time: one to three weeks; expedited service available at additional cost.
Greene Luggage (6 East 46th Street; 682-0081, 682-7978). Eddie Greene thinks more about luggage than, say, someone in the Witness Protection Program. “I’ll put any of my repair guys up against the best in the country,” Eddie boasts. Many seem to agree; the Waldorf-Astoria, the St. Regis, the Plaza, and all the major airlines use Greene as their luggage-repair shop of choice. Beyond the quality of its work, Greene’s turnaround times rival those of the pit crews at Indy. Repairs can often be made while you wait, or Eddie can have someone pick up and deliver your luggage (as long as you’re in the five boroughs) the same day, free of charge.