Fantasy Interiors on Steinway to Close After 75 Years
Photo via Google Maps.
By COLE SINANIAN
cole@queensledger.com
STEINWAY — On a recent Friday afternoon on Steinway Street, two women recognize each other at the checkout line of Fantasy Interiors, a home decor and custom drapery business founded in 1951.
“You look familiar,” the older one says to the other. “I was your monitor at PS 6 on Steinway Street!”
“That was years ago!” the other woman says.
Behind them, glass shelves once stacked with linens, towels, toilet seats, shower heads, and all manner of home decorations lay empty. As the older woman heads towards the door, she turns around to look one last time, as if to say goodbye.
“To the staff of Fantasy!” she says. “To health and happiness!”
After 75 years in business, Fantasy Interiors will be closing for good in the coming weeks. For owner Robert Last, the decision to close the beloved store was not an easy one. But with rising business costs, a local economy that never fully recovered from the pandemic, and a new generation of shoppers more inclined towards online shopping than brick-and-mortar stores, Last says the store no longer makes economic sense. While Last will continue to sell custom drapery to clients out of his workshop above the store, Fantasy Interiors’ iconic blue and white storefront will soon become a thing of Steinway Street’s past.
“We pretty much hit a wall when it started to get around COVID and everything kind of changed,” Last said. “The economy changed and peoples’ buying habits changed and unfortunately, we’re I guess a sign of the times.”
Fantasy Interiors has been a mainstay on Steinway since the 1950s. Last’s father Melvin and grandfather Harry opened the initial location in 1951 on 28th Street. Its arrival to Astoria was almost an accident, Last says. The men had always dreamed of opening a business together, hence the name— it was their “Fantasy. After taking a wrong exit they ended up on Steinway Street and were charmed. It was the perfect spot for their business, full of bustling retail activity and eagerly window-shopping pedestrians.
At eight years old Last began helping his father out in the store. The neighborhood was different then, Last said. He recalled the communal energy among the shopkeepers, how he and his family slowly got to know the tight-knit community of businesspeople around Steinway Street.
“All the merchants knew each other, which was really nice,” he said. “Everybody was in the same boat. You had somebody to lean on, if you saw somebody in the neighborhood you just chatted.”
Fantasy founders Melvin Last (left) and Harry Last (right). Photo via Robert Last.
Neighbors that stuck out included Sokol’s, a toy store; Eisenberg’s, another store that sold houseware and home decor; and Schatz Steinway, a longtime paint store that closed in 2024. As a kid working long summer days in the Fantasy workshop with his father, Last would save up his money and walk across the street to pick out a toy at Sokol’s at the end of each week.
The Last family took well to the neighborhood. Repeat customers returned to Fantasy again and again, drawn not just to the ample selection of home decor and custom drapery, but also to the genuine personal attention and sense of community the family provided their customers. It’s the sort of genuine connection seldom found at big-brand department stores, Last said, and part of what’s kept Fantasy alive for so long amidst an ever-shifting streetscape.
“We felt it was important to give that personal help,” he said. “People do need a connection. It makes a difference in how you feel about what you’re buying.”
The store grew and within five years the family moved Fantasy to its current location at 30-32 Steinway St. Since his father passed away, Last has inherited the family business and accrued a variety of loyal clients for his custom drapery business. Last’s work can be found throughout the city, at restaurants like Red Sorghum in Long Island City and Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse in Bayside and Midtown, as well as at art galleries like Chelsea’s Hauser and Wirth and concert venues like the Midnight Blue jazz club on 19th Street in Manhattan.
But during COVID-19, things at Fantasy took a turn. Without much of an online business, pandemic quarantines took their toll. Tariffs also contributed to the economic strife, Last said. Some of the wholesalers he buys materials from have doubled their prices as a result of tariffs on foreign goods. Suppliers are also prioritizing higher-volume sales, refusing to sell anything but bulk purchases, in quantities far larger than what smaller businesses like Fantasy needs. And with his longtime focus on face-to-face personal connection, Last said he’s been reluctant to shift to an online-focused business model, a position that’s made it hard to stay profitable in 2026.
There’s a cultural element too. With a tightening economy, climbing rents and a cyber-centric world, people are more transient and money is always tight, meaning the demand for high-quality, custom-made home decor is on the decline.
“Younger people just do things differently,” Last said. “People spend more money on rent and they don’t have that much disposable income. They’re also moving around quite a bit more. They know that they’re renting more than owning— they don’t really want to spend a lot of money on curtains or comforters or anything.”
Customers can still visit Fantasy until inventory runs out. Last said he will stay open for another few weeks, after which point he will shift his focus to his custom business and continue to work with existing clients. Last expressed gratitude towards his workers and customers for having stuck with his father and grandfather’s “Fantasy” all these years.
“I just want to thank everyone,” Last said, “all the people that have responded, all the people over the years. We appreciate it and I think my staff appreciates it. I know that I do and it’s made a difference in me.”
