Inventory, New York
The New York-based location of the online and in-print menswear publication Inventory is as veiled as the site itself. Set aside for a select, specific and purposeful type of shopper, the New York outpost, located on 12 Extra Place, sits between Bowery and 2nd Ave on East 2nd street, just off the well-traveled path, but still central enough to mean something.
The location is as indicative as the site itself and even more so, the man the brand strives to connect with. In New York, Inventory specializes in tailor-making the shopping experience as underwhelming as possible. Every arrangement is planned, every display intentional. You even assume that the natural lighting is playing according to the storefront’s rules. They carry only the most notable names, including Arc’teryx Veilance, Ebbets Field Flannels, Engineered Garments Workaday, Falke, Haco Schuh, Inventory Collaborations, John Smedley, Margaret Howell, Needles, orSlow, The Real McCoy’s, Red Wing, Sassafras, South2 West8, Strathtay Hand Knits, Tricker’s, Viberg, Workers, Yaeca and Yuketen.
Unsuprisingly, the brands line the shelves in cloistered groupings so that there is no mistaking one for the next. To the untrained eye, the clusters are shocking, confusing and intimidating, but to the Inventory-gentleman, the exclusion is a delightful reminder of the care and thoughtfulness that goes into the range of each selection.
The Soho-based store is open weekdays and Saturdays from 11am to 9pm and on Sundays from noon until 6pm. And though nothing about the store reflects the digital landscape of our generation (it’s planned minimalism through and through), it’s been hailed as one of very few elite Manhattan listings to do the shopping for you.
