Profile

Since the early sixties, this Italian publisher has dazzled patrons with a healthy stock of photo-heavy, glossy coffee-table books on a variety of topics. Its tri-level Fifth Avenue store is the antithesis of the cookie-cutter standard in bookshops: In place of snuggly arm chairs or a latte-pouring café, intellectual types find dark wood nooks and dramatic wrought-iron chandeliers. The first-floor shelves pop fiction, style guides, magazines, and a register where staff will gladly wrap selections in signature green paper for free. Upstairs, the second level contains a well-rounded supply of antiques and architecture tomes covering both theory and design. The origin of the Cole Porter wafting from invisible speakers is revealed on the third floor, where the small music section is housed; don’t bother searching for Kanye’s latest, but if Krall, Coltrane, or even Music for Cocktails is what you’re after, this is definitely the right place. — Chanize Thorpe

Rizzoli especially caters to their Italian customer by importing daily newspapers from Rome and dedicating a large section of books and music from home unavailable elsewhere in the States.

Annual summer sale: Books are anywhere from $1 to 50% off the published price.

Related Stories

Featured In

• Ten Little Cities: The Design Maven (8/13/07)