The Starting Line

Farewell, The Starting Line. It has become a victim of high rent blight, like many businesses in New York City, especially Chelsea, West Village and Tribeca. Another neighborhood institution gone.

I have been buying sneakers and clothing from here for many years. The store is constantly bringing in NEW ARRIVALS. The store is never boring. The clothing is very hip and up to date with todays fashion. Also, they have alot of SALES.

Accidentally found this place while searching for running shoes. Everyone inside was extremely kind. I didn’t buy anything but I fell in love with some Pumas that will hopefully be mine soon. ^_​^ The owner checked out my feet and gave me some tips on which running shoes to purchase even though he didn’t have the type of shoe for me. He helped me greatly! He’s been selling shoes for many years and knows running shoes. I would recommend this place for sure. :)
Just to make sure you know, this is a guy store.

Universal Gear’s twin brother perhaps. Was in the area and needed to kill some time, so decided to take a look. They have a wide selection of bags, shirts, accessories, shoes that are geared mostly toward gay men. Some of the clothing or shoes that I find here however are really nice with good and unique styles. Service-​wise, Universal Gear employees tend to be friendlier and approach you first while Starting Line employees are too busy talking about what they did last night and stuff. Another downside might be that the prices are a bit too high

This is a really cool store. As I was having a personal issue with not finding the perfect man bag in NYC from visiting various stores around Manhattan, I found this place and was on a bit of a high! Knowing I was in Chelsea, what’s known to a lot of people as one of the gay districts of NYC, I felt there HAD to be some stores in this area catering to my taste of stylish man bags. Walking past this store’s window display, I noticed their vast array of cool looking bags on display, I was surprised! I walked in and found even more cool looking bags. Had a bit of an issue trying to figure out what I really wanted, since I wanted to buy three of what they had but… had a budget on mind. Anyway, I settled for this grey leather tote from Ro and I’m in freaking love with it. I received many compliments on the bag upon my return to Tucson and I know now that I made a great choice. If only I could live in NYC someday, I would be broke from uncontrollable urges of buying bags every week, ha! Will definitely return to visit next time I’m in NYC. Thanks, Starting Line!

«Q: What did the hotdog say when it crossed the finish line first? A: I’m the weiner.»
The Starting Line has a vast array of mens clothing and accessories. Shoes, bags, watches, bracelets, running shorts, underwear, swimsuits, hats!, jackets… you get it. I’ve also purchased one of a kind hand-​made tees here.
They seem to always be having a sneaker sale and I unfortunately try to stay away… as Evan G pointed out, it can be dangerous. They usually have a cute collection of men’s bags (murses if you will) behind the cash desk. Also an awesome variety of hats.
I’ve always found the staff super friendly and end up spending more time than I originally set out to. Sizing here is great too as they carry the ever popular gay sizes small and extra small in quantities for all.
I always make a pit stop in the Startling Line on my cruise up 8^th ave., the selection changes often!

I’m not sure what got me in to The Starting Line or what kept me there… but I’m glad I went and I’m glad I stayed. I found some really great shirts and discovered a new brand that I’d never heard of before… and when I left I had a new shirt from Merc that was well priced, fit me amazingly well and made my day.
I would have gotten sneakers too… having a lot to choose from… but decided to be frugal instead. Ah, well.
It’s worth a «pop-​in» and browse as Sam P. would say. :)

They have friendly staff, awesome selection of sneakers, (usually) fairly priced. Could use a makeover but hey, they cant be perfect…

All I was looking for was socks. One of the local queer gear shops didn’t have ‘em, but recommended The Starting Line, so I took a shot. Little did I know the shoes were waiting, and they spoke to me.
Found socks (mission #1 accomplished), but my lingering desire for shoes led me further back in the store, where two people, at least one of whom was an employee, proceeded to have the most vacuous conversation full of complete nonsequiturs («oh, that’s my Beverly Hills number» and «I get all of these text messages from all these people I don’t know because I give out my number so much» were two of my favorite quotations from this Pulitzer Prize-​nominated convo).
Well, neither of them bothered to help me as I SALIVATED over a pair of Pumas on the shelf. But then a sweet man, who was clearly out to see if I’d flirt back at him (who am I not to flirt?), clucked his tongue and said they only had one size left in that style and he didn’t think it was big enough to fit me (Where have I heard THAT before? ha ha ha). I settled for my second choice, which was available in my size and hugged my foot as though it were a love affair that should never end.
In the end, I walked out with a fabulous pair of Puma sneakers (for $ 65!) and the aforementioned socks (OK, 3 pair).
And yes, as Sam P. and Daniel L. mention, who ever does the visuals on 8^th Av knows his shit.

I’ve walked by this store so many times in my life, and as Sam P. said, their window displays always manage to get me to turn my head just to take a closer look at what they gots. The buyer at this shop really knows his customer, considering the store has outlasted so many other businesses on the gay catwalk of 8^th Avenue. This place is a great selection of kicks, man panties, and man bags. In fact, it’s where I (this every evening) purchased my perfect man bag for the season. I debated five different Puma man bags and in the end chose this rocking mocha-​colored herringbone patterned one with almost an electric blue top stitching. The handle hardware is fantastic too. It was the one they had in the store so the owner gave me a discount too! Cool guy!
On a previous visit to the store, I’d bought this interesting watch for work (back when I was making watches) that you could program a phrase, and other interesting complications (watch-​speak for a feature) like motion activated time display, etc etc.
This place is really a solid 4 stars considering the fact that every time I do step inside, there is at least 3 things I want to buy.

It’s easy to brisk by the row of boutiques on this stretch of 8^th Ave. and dismiss them as «just another little Universal Gear Clone,» yet somehow, something in the window at The Starting Line always manages to turn my head. Usually it’s a bag (I have a small bag addiction problem). They have a great selection of Puma & Fred Perry gym bags, and a really adorable shoe selection — lots of cute sneakers: everything from Nike and Puma to Tretorn and P.F. Flyers. As Russ said, the rest of the clothes are fairly unremarkable — lots of t-​shirts and tragic outerwear. But for bags and/​or shoes, this is a good place to pop into.

Starting Line has a great selection of «retro chique» clothing and accessories from brands like Poketo, Puma, Adidas, Five Crown, Minoritees, Site and others. The sneaker inventory is a little dissapointing compared to the clothing inventory, but I suppose that’s because the shop is quite small and there just isn’t enough space for it.
The store is quite dangerous for a fan of retro designs. You could go bankrupt shopping here quite easily. Great stuff!