GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shops
Four new stores for holiday shopping inspiration, from the Upper East Side to Boerum Hill.
ONE FLIGHT UP: Understated boutique BOMI (above, left) is found on the second-story of a Soho loft building. Owner Bomi Jin chose the location hoping it’d be grounding for customers to ascend a flight of stairs to enter her shop of hard-to-find home goods, skincare products, and accessories. Jin wants her customers to understand the story behind the products she features, so she runs a steady stream of in-store events with brand founders — recently, the owner of cult haircare brand Sándor taught scalp massage techniques using its bian stone gua sha comb. Elegantly and exactingly curated, compulsively shoppable, and a treasure slightly hidden in plain sight, it’s about as perfect a niche Soho shopping experience as you’ll find. –Caitlin Pangares
→ Shop: BOMI (Soho) • 54 Mercer St, 2nd Fl • Wed-Sat 11-7p, Sun 12-6p.
RARE GEM: Chef and Gem Wine proprietor Flynn McGarry recently opened Gem Home (above, center), a café, grocery, and home goods store in Nolita. The space is airy, with Donald Judd-inspired furniture among its midcentury-meets-shaker aesthetics. It opens into minimally merchandised shelves, a fridge with prepared foods, and dried flowers and produce displayed in wicker baskets. Offset rooms house additional wares like antique wooden egg cups, a selection of Gem-branded spice mixtures, and items sourced from friends of the staff, like the first ever bottling of Inez olive oil. The cavernous back room is accented with a brick red, large-scale textile and rows of communal tables for customers. At the counter, excellent sandwiches come out around 1130a, and sell out fast. In a city brimming with shoppy shops and all-day cafes, the elegance of McGarry’s hand-selected stylings and stock make Gem Home a standout. –CP
→ Shop: Gem Home (Nolita) • 181 Mott St • Wed-Sun 9a-6p.
JEWEL BOX: Fine jewelry designer Sophie Bille Brahe (above, right) recently opened her first U.S. store on the Upper East Side, invigorating the neighborhood’s storied shopping district with a dose of Danish cool. The second-floor space opens into an elegant sitting room with wide windows and shadow boxes featuring select pieces from Brahe’s full line. Try on her signature “escargot” spiral bezel-set rings, pearl bow earrings, and graduating tennis necklaces in person, though exclusively by private appointment for now — in 2025, the store’s hours will expand to a more classic M-F schedule and additional pieces will be available to browse. –CP
→ Shop: Sophie Bille Brahe (Upper East Side) • 1000 Madison Ave, 2nd Fl • by appointment only.
FORK IN THE ROAD: The renowned Asheville, NC-based pottery brand East Fork (above) faced a challenging fall due to Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact on the Blue Ridge. Despite their struggles, East Fork still followed through last month with their plans to open a store in Brooklyn, their third brick-and-mortar location (and first outside the South). For the uninitiated, the brand’s earthy color palette consists of six year-round shades and limited sets of rotating seasonal shades that East Fork’s fans covet and collect. (A current seasonal favorite: Big Sky, a creamy periwinkle blue.) It’s the latest notable addition to a stretch of Atlantic Avenue that’s become a homewares shopping destination in its own right. –Phoebe Fry
→ Shop: East Fork (Boerum Hill) • 377A Atlantic Ave • Tues-Sat 11a-6p, Sun 12-5p.