Ashley Montgomery-Pulido at ShagFrom the May issue: When Williamsburg artist Samantha Bard finished grad school last year, she decided it was the perfect time to open a local shop selling vintage lingerie, handmade sex toys and other erotic products designed by local artisans. So what if the country was suffering the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression? Rents were only $55 a square foot, and she and her business partner, Ashley Montgomery-Pulido, wanted to take advantage of the decline in real estate prices. (In 2006, The Real Deal cited a statistic from Prudential Douglas Elliman that average retail rents in Williamsburg were between $100 and $110.) [more]