On a typical weekday afternoon at C.O. Bigelow Pharmacy in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, patrons and tourists wander up and down the store’s original tile floors to pick up prescriptions, peruse high-end beauty products and chat with staff who have been with the store for more than 40 years.
Owners Ian and Alec Ginsberg, a father-son duo, say the past month has been unusual. About 20 people have flocked to the 188-year-old pharmacy and are gathered in a corner of the beauty counter lined with hair bands. Most people only want one thing. It’s a 1.5-inch tortoiseshell headband for $40. It’s the same style previously worn by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, former Calvin Klein spokeswoman and wife of John F. Kennedy Jr., the store owner said.
Since the Feb. 12 premiere of FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette,” Bigelow, CO. has seen “holiday-like crowds” on weekends, said Ian Ginsberg, who has worked full time at the store since 1985, when his father owned it.
“We[usually]have ebbs and flows in terms of foot traffic…but this past weekend, the place was packed like sardines,” Alec Ginsberg said. “This is not normal for it to happen every weekend of the year.” Bloomberg reported on March 5 that several New York-based companies associated with Bessette Kennedy, including optician Selima Optic and Indian restaurant Panna II Garden, saw an increase in sales after the premiere of “Love Story.”
carolyn bessette kennedy
Lawrence Schwarzwald | Sigma | Getty Images
Jonah Berger, an associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said established brands and products tend to spread quickly when they think they offer something new audiences haven’t yet discovered.
These particular headbands may provide some Gen Zers with a “sense of social currency,” Berger says, demonstrating to those around them that they’re culturally aware — that they’re up to date on hot TV shows and fluent in their cultural commentary — and that they can afford to show it.
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Some companies are well-positioned to take advantage of cultural trends. Chinese toy brand Popmart sold approximately $423 million worth of Lovebu dolls in 2024 after K-pop star Lisa Manoban was spotted wearing a Lovebu doll in her wallet in April of the same year. In New York, tourists still visit the 138-year-old Katz Deli to see the restaurant that was featured in the 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally.”
Many Gen Zers also have an affinity for in-person retail shopping. In 2025, consumers between the ages of 18 and 24 will purchase 62% of all general merchandise purchases in stores, according to data from Circana reported by the Wall Street Journal on March 9.
“We’re excited to see Gen Z discovering retail,” says Ian Ginsburg.
“The headband has stayed that way for 30 years.”
The Ginsburg family has owned CO Bigelow since 1939, when Ian Ginsburg’s great-grandfather purchased the then-run-down pharmacy after the Great Depression, according to the website. In the 1970s, its proximity to recording studios drew artists and performers to the lunch counter, making it a kind of “cultural community gathering place,” Alec Ginsberg said.
In the late 1980s, Ian Ginsberg decided the store needed a differentiator or risk losing business to chain pharmacies that could sell “lighters, pens, and Tylenol” at lower prices. He sources beauty products and hair accessories from Europe, including a headband that Bessette Kennedy first bought in the 1990s, adding a luxurious twist.
Owners say customers who walk into the store today should have the same experience as customers who walked in nearly 200 years ago. In part, that means hiring personable and knowledgeable employees, including the Ginsburgs themselves. Ian Ginsberg once told his son that he needed to attend pharmacy school to get a key role in the store, he says. The company has maintained some physical aspects of the store over the decades, including the original gas-powered chandelier.
CO Bigelow CEO Ian Ginsberg with his father and former owner Jerry Ginsberg, 1988
Provided by CO Bigelow
Joe Pine, an experience economy researcher, consultant and author, says prioritizing the customer experience, especially in an authentic way, could help brick-and-mortar stores weather the rise and fall of retail. That customer experience can include purchasing products that satisfy a shopper’s desire to look or feel a certain way, even something as small as a hair accessory, he says.
“People increasingly want to buy physical goods, services, and experiences that help them achieve their aspirations and become the people they want to be,” Pine says.
CO Bigelow has sold out and restocked its tortoiseshell headbands multiple times since “Love Story” premiered, owners said. Seconds after a customer pulls a black, brown, or pearl headband from a bowl or rack, a salesperson dutifully replaces it with a replica.
“It wasn’t like all of a sudden I saw this obsession[with Bessette Kennedy]and thought, ‘We should capitalize on this. Let’s do headbands again,'” Alec Ginsberg says. “The headband has stayed that way for 30 years.”
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