Pop-up shop season officially begins tomorrow in New York City’s SOHO with the opening of one of the most unique shops we’ve heard of. Our intrepid contributor, Jen Turner, gives the low-down and gets you prepped for the week’s festivities.
For those mornings after one-too-many, there’s almost nothing more restorative than a classic egg ‘n’ cheese on a roll. And yet it’s been years since I’ve had one. What’s stopping me? Well, for one thing, the quantity of “morning afters” has decreased, but truthfully, since I became interested in (O.K., obsessed with) the origins of my food and joined the ecovore, locavore, raw-dairy-vore bandwagon, my appetite for deli-sold products has fallen off dramatically. And I hadn’t actually realized it until I heard about BoHo Bodega.
BoHo Bodega, the pop-up-shop brainchild of Mia Sakai and Julia Falkenstein, opens its doors tomorrow, Tuesday October 20th at 8:00 p.m. and will remain open until Sunday, October 25th. The shop’s goal is to spread the word that there are some great eco-friendly alternatives to the usual items found at most local convenience stores. Besides stocking the shelves with feel good products, the organizers have heavily discounted the prices and will send all the proceeds to charity—a retail trifecta.
The idea for the shop—located just up the street from the recently re-opened Petrosino Park and right around the corner from Storefront for Art and Architecture—came to Mia several months ago. En route to Julia’s house in New York’s East Village, she stopped into a bodega for snacks when it hit her: “Why aren’t the same products that are on offer at, say, Whole Foods available in a deli?” she asked herself. And so BoHo Bodega, the debut project of Mia’s Make Media, a community-oriented creative agency that specializes in design and branding, was launched.
After the partners fleshed out the idea, they enlisted the Council on the Environment for New York City (CENYC) to become their partner-in-charity and then persuaded eco-vendors including Green Forest, Planet, Divine Chocolate and Simply Organic to offer their goods for sale.
Next stop, the space: after seeing one white box after another, which, Mia says, “Didn’t seem right for the theme,” they found a gritty old contractor’s supply store and embarked on an improvement project. They sourced a lot of items from Build It Green (BIG), N.Y.C.’s re-salvage depot, and otherwise used green or recycled materials for the rest. The whole effort is a demonstration in D.I.Y., down to the re-purposing of restaurant-sized tomato cans to create the light fixtures. They are being extra good and donating everything to BIG when the event ends.
Besides the goods, BoHo Bodega will host discussions, classes, and giveaways each day. For instance, on Wednesday at 11:00 you can meet with a representative of ConEdison Solutions WIND Power Program and convert your conventional energy source to an alternative one. Or that evening, join with others at the “Kiss _______ Goodbye” happening, where you can toss your current paraben-filled pucker upper and replace it with one of Kiss My Face’s good for you lip glosses. Click here for more events, details, and the blog.
If you are in the New York City vicinity be sure visit the BoHo Bodega for some recycled TP, an eco-conscious drink, or a lesson on composting. It’s a rare chance to feel good about life’s little conveniences.
