On a normal weekday afternoon at C.O. Bigelow apothecary in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, regulars and tourists traipse across the shop’s original tile flooring to pick up prescriptions, peruse luxury beauty products or chat with staff, some of whom have been there for over four decades.
The last month has been abnormal, say owners Ian and Alec Ginsberg, a father-and-son duo. Twenty-somethings are visiting the 188-year-old pharmacy in droves, gathering at the corner of the shop’s beauty counter where headbands are stocked. Most want one thing: A $40 1.5-inch tortoiseshell headband, the same style previously worn by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, the former Calvin Klein publicist and wife of John F. Kennedy Jr, the store’s owners say.
On weekends since the Feb. 12 premiere of FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette,” C.O. Bigelow has seen “traffic like the holidays,” says Ian Ginsberg, who has worked full-time at the store since 1985, when his own father owned it.
“Things [usually] ebb and flow in terms of foot traffic ... but this past weekend, the store was packed like sardines,” says Alec Ginsberg. “That’s not typical every single weekend of the year.” After “Love Story” premiered, sales rose at multiple other New York-based businesses associated with Bessette Kennedy, including eyeglass store Selima Optique and Panna II Garden Indian restaurant, Bloomberg reported on March 5.
