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Shecky’s “Girls Night Out” brought people from all over the city to shop, shop, shop in Lower Manhattan.

It's an indoor party held several times a year that features cocktails, shopping and a signature swag bag with admission.

"I came with my friends, five of my friends from work, and it's just fun," said one New Yorker present at the recent event.

"You hang out with your girlfriends and you have a great time and you get to drink for $15 all night," said another.

Shecky's sets up its event for several nights, each time at a different Manhattan venue. It brings in beverage partners that offer drinks and mixology classes and features dozens of vendors.

"You know what I love about it: It's like we have less and less little boutiques, you know. It's always, like, big chain stores, and here you get all these very unusual things like little ‘boothtiques,’" said one New Yorker.

The idea for the event came from a nightlife guide printed in September 2001 by Chris Hoffman. After September 11th, Hoffman was sitting on 40,000 copies of it.

"Post 9/11, we were thinking nobody is buying any books, and frankly, our company is looking to survive. Let's try to bring the book to life," said Hoffman.

The first Girls Night Out drew about 1,000 women and Hoffman realized he was onto something.

"We've moved into 17 different cities over the last 10 years. Our events have gone from one-day events to five-day events at a time, up to 10,000 people per event. They've become really, really large," said Hoffman.

The event is marketed mostly online and tends to sell out in advance.

Shecky's Girls Night Out is held three times a year in the city: in the fall, spring and summer.

"We get an email event way ahead of time, and we plan it and book it," said one New Yorker.

And some authors present said the event is where they wanted to be for the release of their book “Dictionary of Men.”

"It captures our demographic: 3,000 women,” said Maria Blanco, co-author of the book.

Hoffman said his business feels recession-proof because socializing is always in style.