Shit I Like

At some point, I realized the easiest way to explain how I curate the store is also the most honest. It’s shit I like. That’s the premise.

Not in a careless way. More like, if something ends up here, it’s because it struck a chord with me. It made sense in my world building. It had some kind of feeling to it. Maybe it was beautiful. Maybe it was strange. Maybe it was useful. Maybe it had a little mystery around it. Maybe it just made me stop and think, yes, this belongs here.

That includes my own work, of course. Philandry fragrances and skin care. AL goods. Things I’ve made because I wanted them to exist and couldn’t quite find them elsewhere. But the store was never meant to be only that. I’ve always wanted it to feel more like a room full of connected objects, some made by me, some made by friends, some found, some old, some new, some with a story that is obvious, and some with a story you have to invent a little.

So that’s where the local jewelers come in. The vintage pieces. The antique oddities. The small run things. The weird little objects that don’t necessarily fit neatly into a category but somehow make perfect sense once they’re here.

I like stores that feel personal. Not over-merchandised. Not like an algorithm figured out "what the customer wants". I like places where you can feel the hand of the person behind it. Their taste. Their obsessions. Their contradictions. I like the idea that a store can be a kind of self portrait, even if that sounds a little dramatic and self indulgent.

This one is mine. Which brings me to something I’m really excited about. I’m starting to bring in some Analog Media.

Records first. A small, carefully chosen selection of LPs from labels and related catalogs including 4AD, Beggars Banquet, Rough Trade, Matador, and Young. Not a massive record store wall. Not everything. Just a tight selection of albums that feel right here. Music that shaped the atmosphere in my head. Music that belongs next to perfume, silver, old things, black glass bottles, paper, leather, denim, and whatever else finds its way in.

There is something about vinyl that fits the space. The scale of it. The artwork. The ritual. Taking it out, turning it over, actually giving it your attention. I don’t want everything in life to become frictionless. Some things should ask a little more from you.

After records, the plan is to start bringing in art books, including Taschen, along with indie zines and small press things. Again, the idea is not to become a bookstore. It’s more about adding another layer to the atmosphere. Things to look through. Things to discover. Things that might send you down some strange little path.

That’s really the whole idea of the store.

Come in for a fragrance and find a ring. Come in for a ring and leave with a record. Come in for nothing in particular and find some old object you didn’t know you needed. Come in just to look around for a while. That counts too.

I don’t want the store to feel like it was assembled by trends. I want it to feel lived in before it’s even fully finished. A little desert, a little old world, a little post-punk, a little mercantile, a little cabinet of curiosities.

Mostly, just shit I like. And hopefully, you do too.