urban sparrows

Shopping In Williamsburg, Brooklyn
THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH 2009
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After brunch I embarked on a walking tour of Williamsburg with a short list of stores to visit and no set route. I generally only enter design stores, mainly because I cannot afford clothing and at least window shopping for decor is entertaining.

A&G Merch is an urban home furnishing store that has a nice balance of handmade and local products as well as mass produced items. I admired the little merchandise vignettes that allowed customers to pause and explore clusters of products rather than looking at items on linear shelves.

The Future Perfect (not shown) is a little shop full of design objects that I will never be able to afford. In their basement they sometimes have clearance and sample sales that are still mostly out of my price range.

Voos is a collective of local furniture designers and the showroom is full of eclectic pieces. It feels more like walking through a contemporary gallery than a retail store. This store is also way, way out of my price range - like most design stores!

Mast Brothers is a chocolate factory adjacent to Voos, and on this warm afternoon I could smell the chocolate wafting down the block - cacao shells were strewn about the floor when I walked in. The owners/creators - the Mast brothers - both rock amazing beards. Their chocolate is handmade in delicate batches.

Sprout is a sweet little modern garden store that has a beautiful collection of plants, accessories and gifts. I fell in love as soon as I saw the huge terrariums in the center of the room! They have a feature wall covered in tillandsias, too. Tassy spent a good deal of time with me explaining what I possibly did wrong with my terrarium and even printed out a guide for me to take home.

I could best describe Moon River Chattel as rustic chic. It offers reclaimed and vintage furniture and decor as well as contemporary accessories. I could easily decorate an entire cozy bed and breakfast in their merchandise.

Two Jakes (not shown) specializes in classic 20th century modern office furniture. If I recall correctly this store was stacked with furniture.

Portmanteau sells pricey vintage furniture and accessories. These glass vessels caught my eye and all I could think of was terrariums on the walk back to the subway.