By Charlene Giannetti

When Phoebe Cates walked the Red Carpet at the Academy Awards, she won rave reviews for her dress, a stunning red silk with a delicate beaded top. When the TV people asked, she told them her dress, shoes, and purse came from her own store, Blue Tree on Madison Avenue in Carnegie Hill. “I was there like a visitor,” she said with a laugh. (Her husband, Kevin Kline, was a presenter). “But why not go wearing your own stuff?”

Especially when the “stuff” from your own store is incredible. Opened in 2005, Blue Tree has built up a loyal following on the Upper East Side. And because Cates’s store features everything from toys to household goods to jewelry and clothing, shoppers young and old always manage to find something special. Recently, Cates expanded the rear of the store (a neighboring florist was looking to shed the space) to set up a larger area for her popular home goods. A Blue Tree candle with the store’s signature scent constantly sells out and sometimes involves a waiting list.

Cates created the store she felt Carnegie Hill needed. “I’ve lived here for fifteen years, and I just always felt hard pressed to find gifts,” she said. “This neighborhood is wonderful and has some great shops, but it’s a little conservative and staid. I felt with my kids, we were always leaving the neighborhood to find fun stuff.” She often remarked to friends that someone should open a store until a friend challenged her with, “Why don’t you?”

Carnegie Hill, a landmarked area of the city, boasts many beautiful trees, including one in front of Cates’s store. “I wanted the store’s name to have tree in it,” she said, “and also to be a little quirky to get across what the store was about.” Her husband suggested Blue Tree and the deed was done.

Blue Tree is indeed unusual, stocked with items that are unexpected and unique. “My dream was to have it like a general store according to me,” she said. “I wanted to create a place where everyone could find something, an adventure at every turn.”

The downstairs area is a treasure trove of baby gifts, toys, games, vintage finds, jewelry, and books. “We do the gift shows, but we try to look with a different eye,” Cates explained. Whimsical items may win her over, but she wants each to have a purpose. “I know how hard it is to resist clutter,” she said. “Some items are decorative, but they also have to be functional.”

Prices range from $5 to $5,000. “We have things in the lower price range, but we also want choices for someone who wants a bit of luxury,” she said. “You don’t have to go to Barney’s. You can come here.” Clothing and jewelry are the mainstays of the store. “The rest is for fun,” she said.

“Give You the Moon” jewelry line, by Cates and designer Pablo Valencia, is very popular. The idea is to create a charm necklace in silver or gold. “You are gifting people with charms representing things you wish you could give them,” she explained. “You can give them a walk-in-closet, a private island, a magic wand, the moon, or the stars.” The necklace chain is $35 in silver, $110 in gold, and charms start at $80.

The dress Cates wore at the Oscars, although designed for her, was previously made up in a polka dot fabric and featured in the store’s window. Anyone who desires to walk her own red carpet may have the dress made up in the fabric of her choice.

Although Cates is known as an actress with memorable roles in the Gremlins movies, as well as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Bright Lights, Big City, and Princess Carabo, she does have experience working in stores. When she was eleven she didn’t want to go to camp, so she found a job at the Gallery Drug Store near Bloomingdale’s. “I stocked shelves and pretended to shop to spot shoplifters. I worked as a spy,” she said, laughing.

Later on, she worked as a sales person at Fred Leighton’s. Her jewelry on Oscar night came from the jeweler and she once sold some of Leighton’s lower-priced items in her store. Cates doesn’t think of herself as being in retail. “I think more personally about it,” she said. “I’m a good people person in general and I’m comfortable” with customers.

While Cates’s profile as an actress certainly helped the store initially, now the store “stands on its own.” She added: “I feel it’s almost like children of celebrities. They are going to be who they are.”

Cates said her family has been supportive. Cates and Kline have a son, Owen, and a daughter, Greta. “They love the store,” she said. “My kids are not big shoppers, but they do help from time to time.” Cates said her daughter has helped select graphic novels and comic books to sell in the store. “We have this fabulous Corner Bookstore and you won’t find that kind of reading material there,” she said.

Her children do love the city and their neighborhood. “It’s such a funny thing,” she said. “My daughter recently said to me, `Don’t you love the way New York smells?’ I know what she means. It’s an urban smell.”

Despite the downturn in the economy, Cates feels optimistic about her store. “We’ve always catered to the people in this economy,” she said. “We might not be selling as much of our $2,000 jewelry, but we are making up for it in other areas. We’re still a business.”

She never worried about banner headlines if her venture failed. “I learned when I was sixteen years-old,” she said. “My father said they wrap fish in it the next day. No one is looking that closely at everyone. It’s just fodder. You can’t take it too seriously.”

Blue Tree

1283 Madison Avenue, between 91st and 92nd Streets

212-369-blue (2583)

www.bluetreenyc.com

Woman Around Town’s Six Questions:

Favorite Place to Shop: Costco, near a friend’s home in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Favorite Place to Eat: There are so many, guess I’d have to say, on the inexpensive end, Grey’s Papaya and on the high end, Sfoglia, 1402 Lexington Avenue, at 92nd Street.
Favorite New York Sight: I absolutely love when I land at night and have a bird’s eye view of the city all lit up.
Favorite New York Moment: When you get one of those crazy New York snows and everything is white and quiet for a while.
What You Love About New York: I love the people.  I love the fact that there’s a street life, one that doesn’t exist anywhere else. In other places you are stuck in your car a whole lot. There’s a pace, energy, and a great character to the street and you can have exchanges or not. Which is great.
What You Hate About New York: I’ve gone off taxis for the moment. When children say to you they feel safer on the subway than in a taxicab, there needs to be a crack down. You have to go to taxi court to be heard. Go to London or even Paris and you can refuse the rudeness.