Socksco

I love this place. My fave neighborhood clothing store /​warehouse. GREAT deals, and often unique items. Although many items are packaged in bulk, they will sell them individually. And if you’re a regular they are flexible on the time frame of their return policy.

This place is awful. And I’m not talking about regular awful. I talking agonizing, creepy, mothball, b-​movie, drizzling rain, back alley, cut rate, china town storage locker awful.
I live near enough that the sign has intrigued me for years. How could it not? Giant yellow letters shrieking «Socksco»! Hello? I mean the sign, and store, take up several storefronts. I’ve always wanted to peak inside and learn what could be supporting that much real estate. Well now I know and I’m more than underwhelmed. They just sell extra low quality bulk socks, underwear towels and shockingly tacky outerwear.
You might ask who buys enough of this crap to pay that kind of rent? Well, ever seen the homeless guys who aggressively peddle crappy socks and dish towels outside convenience stores and at busy intersections? This is likely their textiles point of origin. You know the low quality undergarments hawked at flea markets and swap meets? This is dusty crevice from which they spring. You know the guy selling the DVDs and the t-​shirts and won’t leave you alone while you’re drunkenly trying to enjoy a polish or pork chop sandwich from an outdoor stand at 3 in the morning? Well this is where that tool got the worthless, translucent shirts he can’t stop hassling you to buy. Socksco apparently is in the business of selling flimsy garments to flimsy people.
The interior is cluttered enough I wondered if they were closed for a remodel. The prices aren’t clearly marked, not that you’d buy anything. And the whole space smells like mildew and formaldehyde. The young girl slowly folding socks without making eye contact had the plaintive look of a human trafficking victim. The strangely motionless older man sitting on a metal folding chair looked like he’d slice her lip if she tried to make a run for it. There’s a back area that we wandered into and couldn’t be sure if it was storage or more retail space. The whole experience was strange enough that my girlfriend stopped me from taking the folding chair sock pimp’s picture because she was a little bit afraid we’d end up being killed and our socks harvested for resale.
So if I haven’t been clear enough I’ll take care of that right now. Socksco isn’t worth the fifty cents I stuck in the demon parking box on Lawrence. And if you’re like me you occasionally read a review so terrible you’ve just got to see the place for yourself. Well this ain’t that kind of place.
This place just sucks.