H&R Hosiery, the South Bronx shop that dressed hip-hop, closes after 60 years

H&R Hosiery was a hole-in-the-wall store on East 163rd Street in the South Bronx, with no sign out front. For about sixty years it stocked the looks that early hip-hop was built on — British Walkers, sheepskin gear, V-neck sweaters, leather jackets, Kangol hats, Adidas and Timberlands. Charles Goldman, known as Chuckie, took over the shop from his parents in 1977.

The store survived on word of mouth and became a gold mine for artists looking to stretch a dollar. Fat Joe and Slick Rick shopped there — Slick Rick named his first group the Kangol Crew after the hats he bought there — and the Cold Crush Brothers credited Goldman with selling the things they actually wore. DJ Bobbito García called the shop a gold mine.

In May 2026, after six decades, Goldman closed the doors for good. Rent had climbed to $8,000 a month, and the customers who once hunted for bargains had moved online. Goldman called it death by Amazon: nobody wanted to dig through racks for a sharkskin jacket when they could find anything with a click. The hunt, he said, is gone.