Iron Fairies Flying to East Village

Austrailian shop to open on St. Marks

A little piece of western Australia is coming to the East Village. The Iron Fairies, a soap and candle store, will open this fall at 13 St. Marks Place, between Second and Third avenues.This will be the first North American location for The Iron Fairies, which is owned by Wild Blue Holdings of O’Connor, Australia. The 600-square-foot shop will sell the chain’s natural soaps and fragrances, which center on characters from an Australian children’s book called The Iron Fairies. The store will also carry iron figurines of the fairies.Wild Blue operated dozens of similar shops in Austrailia under the name Dusk before it sold the concept’s Austrailian rights, says Ashley Sutton, director of Wild Blue’s U.S. operations. Wild Blue plans to open as many as 12 stores in Manhattan in the next few years.Property owner Gioia Equities Inc. leased the space to Wild Blue for five years. Bigger retailers such as Dunkin’ Donuts considered the space, but neighboring business owners and residents flipped out over the idea, says Anthony Gioia, a principal at the firm. “The neighborhood was up in arms,” he says. “It wasn’t a St. Marks fit.”The asking rent was $100 per square foot. Steve Rappaport of Sinvin Realty represented the tenant in the deal, and Gioia Equities negotiated inhouse.