Shop of the Week: The Smile
The Smile is a mixed-use concept store and cafe that brings together goods and services the old-fashioned way: by keeping it real. The shop features a mélange of products – from Sol Moscot specs to Wool and the Gang knitting needles – selected for their craftsmanship and unique appeal. Beyond their general store assortment, The Smile serves up artisanal coffee and a seasonal menu by Melia Marden. Beginning today, it also houses tattoo extraordinaire Scott Campbell in the lower level.
The Smile is appropriately situated on Bond Street in Manhattan, a little block with old world charm, high brow taste and increasing artistic renown. We stopped by recently to chat up proprietors Carlos Quirarte and Matt Kliegman on everything from the tough landlord to the risqué Parisian magazine that inspired the name...
The Smile occupies a landmarked Federal townhouse from the 1830s. The interior space is raw and beautiful, with a genuine rustic charm. It coincides perfectly with your retail and café selections. So how did you nab this gem? How much did the space inform your business? Or did the building aesthetic just happen to mirror your initiative?
Matt Kliegman: Well, Carlos had noticed the building one day while on his bicycle. I tried to get the landlady on the phone for weeks but she wouldn't return my calls. Then, one day there was a 'for rent' sign on the door. The landlady was tough but within a few days we had a lease and the rest is history.
Carlos Quirarte: 'Tough' would be an understatement.
MK: As for the space, if you think it's raw now, you should have seen it before. Just one wall was exposed, though it was the one on the right with the beautiful wood inlays. So we really just used that as our base, combined it with our desire to do mixed uses, and let the rest evolve from there.
Who designed and decorated the space? Was it a collaborative effort?
CQ: Our good friend, Luke Scarola, who owns a great shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn named Luddite did the majority of design and sourced many of our antiques. He has one of the best eyes in the business and we were very lucky to work with him.
Your general store products are hard-to find and best in class. Tell me about a few of your choices and how you came to select them.
CQ: I want to tell you about all of them because I really think all of them are amazing. Santa Maria Novella is one of the oldest apothecaries in the world, C.O. Bigelow is the oldest apothecary in America, Moscot eyeware is a New York institution (family-owned for the past 100 years), and Cire Trudon is the oldest candle maker in France (having been Napoleon's exclusive candle maker). The brands not only have history but are amazingly crafted. In addition, we have new labels that I feel will stand the test of time, like Adam Kimmel clothing, The Lake & Stars, and Found My Animal leashes (who donate 20 percent of their proceeds to help saved dogs from being euthanized). Keep in mind we have worked with many of these brands to create special or exclusive products for The Smile.
I’m sure niche designers are itching for distribution here. Do you intend to expand your retail offerings? Any particular categories we can expect to see?
MK: We definitely will be adding some vendors, as well as rotating a few others. I would expect to see some clothing upstairs and jewelry downstairs.
What is one of your favorite items in the store and why?
CQ: The art. Every few months Mariko Munro, a director at 303 Gallery will pick an artist's work to hang above the fireplace. That artist will then curate a selection of items (books, music, films, etc.) to be sold in the store. Nate Lowman is currently featured.
How did you decide on the name?
MK: I wish I could say it was through some eureka moment, but perhaps it was all the thinking we did that made us end up choosing something so simple. Who would have thought that an old Parisian adult magazine [Le Sourire, from the 1920s and '30s] would have led us to a name almost too perfect?
Totally. We could discuss the parallels there for hours over coffee (or an espresso brewed from that gorgeous vintage 1963 Faema E61). But I also feel like a nice glass of red wine when I’m here. What’s the word on a beer and wine license for the cafe?
MK: I too feel like a glass of wine when I'm here, but unfortunately the word is ‘pending.’ We are hoping some time within the next couple of months and expect dinner service to begin around then as well.
The Smile
26 Bond Street
New York, NY 10012
April 2009
Paper Magazine