"Curated Outlet" INVEN.TORY Opens in Nolita

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INVEN.TORY is the best new shop in Nolita. Why? Probably because they have the best stuff and that stuff is ALWAYS ON SALE. I caught up with Mike Townsend and his team to chat about this phenomenal shop.

INVEN.TORY is crazy. Some of the best deals in all of NYC can be found there. Can you talk a bit about the story behind it?

INVEN.TORY is crazy. About six months ago we started doing sample sales to bring in a little extra much needed cash to finance our alcohol habit in this outrageously expensive city. So, John, Whitney, Erin and myself started doing sample sales. Next thing we knew, we found a great property on Elizabeth and Kenmare and thought about how to hold weekly sample sales there. After thinking about it a little more, we realized that that SUCKED, so we scrapped the idea. One day, I walked by the space again, and it just hit me -- the whole concept -- and I immediately called the "team" and we all fine-tuned the idea. With the help of a good friend, Cory, we came up with the name INVEN.TORY.

I love a moment of epiphany. The idea is brilliant.
It's not like we came up with it -- Century 21 and Lohmann's have been doing it for ages. We consider INVEN.TORY to be more of a curated oulet. We just brought our own twist to something already established, then we refined, tweaked, and touched it all over. That's how our little love-child was conceived.

I love the idea of a curated outlet. There are so many lovely offerings in the store. You've got a constantly rotating cast of designers -- it changes weekly. What makes a brand awesome enough to sell in your store?

I don't like to talk about brands -- I'm more into the idea of "categories." The store is really category and trend driven; if the trend calls for drop-crotch pants, I'm gonna have drop-crotch pants. We just do our best to find what we feel our customer wants. It's fun -- there's so much unknown talent out there that would otherwise get lost, so we find them and bring them to you.

Thanks a ton. I need all the help I can get. Everything gets all muddled in a store like Bloomingdales, it's hard to focus. Which brings me to the design of your store. It's so beautifully simple and not at all distracting from the task at hand: SHOPPING!
I'm glad you like the design, thanks. We're proud of it too. My friends Garrett and Josh did the design. We wanted to go with a really raw look, so we ended up using objects off of the streets of New York. It was crazy, man, we put it up in just seven days. There's a few other people we'd like to thank for helping us put this all together; Colin Tunstall, Morgan Collette, Cory Gomberg and Errol Silverstein.

That's a fine list of contributors. Good guys. You're a pretty well-connected man. What else are you up to that keeps your finger so clearly on the pulse?

I try to stay connected the best I can -- I'm constantly throwing events, doing trade shows, traveling to visit retail stores, that kind of thing. Actually, for my day job I do PR for a company I founded three years ago, Ethan James Group. I've worked with Orthodox, Idol Radec, 3:33 Footwear, Spring Court, TSC, among others. Because of my background, I was able to start INVEN.TORY.

Well, then. I can't say, "Don't quit your day job," can I? HA. What else do you have cooking?
I'm excited about this year, we're in the process of opening up a second store (3500 feet!) with clothing, furniture,
housewares, books, and a selection of great vintage stuff. I can't wait -- we're going to have a ton of cool items at really affordable prices.

INVENT.TORY
19 Kenmare St.
http://www.inventorynyc.com/
info@inventorynyc.com