Great for the urban gardener. Everyone says a similar thing about this East Village landmark: great selection, wish the prices were lower.
It's all true. Saifee is a remarkable hardware and garden store for this part of town, where there are not many options. It's like Gracious Home without steroids.
Amanda says: Although it's not trying to beat prices, Saifee has great small cool things for urban gardening. I bought a lightweight hose that connects to my bathroom sink (and has a great nozzle that locks open) for watering plants on the terrace off our bedroom. It's perfect for a Manhattan apartment.
I really like this hardware store--unfortunately, I just moved away from it. Great selection of items, especially if you garden (I didn't--no room). The staff is helpful if you approach them, but they will not come up to you offering assistance.
While I like Saifee their return policy is crap; store credit only and a minimum on card purchases.
My feeling is that Saifee is just one of a few staples in that hood. There is an ACE south of Saifee, Surprise Surprise on 3rd and 12th-ish nice selection of junk too, Exit 9 and Alphabets on A, Kmart, Janovic's . . .plantwarehouse . . .
Basically NY rules. Get off Saifee's jock for doing their job and stocking psuedo nice vases and organic potting soil.
The guys there are helpful if you're a chicken head when it comes to drilling holes or wiring lamps. They also make a great key.
pseudo
I really love Saifee. It's one of those places that seems to have everything, even if the thing you're looking for is pretty random. (OK, they could stand to have better switch-plate covers, but who stocks those really?)
It's a great place to go if you want to spruce up your place without spending a boatload of cash. They have a lot of colorful and quirky housewares. And, since they're a hardware store, they have that stuff too.