KIOSK
Video, 6min 17sec, 2008 (TRW01)

Kiosk is a kind of general store if the world could be seen as a small town. Owned by a married partnership, Alisa Grifo and Marco ter Haar Romeny, Kiosk features a rotating exhibition of everyday products from around the world, smartly selected with an eye towards craftsmanship and singularity. "Their beauty," Kiosk writes in its mission statement, "is sometimes hard to see in today's market; our motivation to start Kiosk was to shed some light on these anonymous objects and support independent producers." In a retail world of endlessly repetitive consumer choices, Kiosk celebrates the child-like joy of discovery all too often lost in the anxious marketplace.

One of Kiosk's defining characteristics is the boosterish positivity underscoring each selection, most directly evident in the often personal mini-stories Alisa writes to introduce each product. We were greatly impressed by Alisa and Marco's enthusiasm for the manufacturers they've met and come to represent in the SoHo shop. In thinking about their space as a kind of museum they solve at least two problems of traditional museums and other "curated" stores. First, they tackle the museum's static, proprietary displays by offering a wide price range of products anyone can afford to take home (not just a souvenir but the actual thing). And second, they avoid fetishizing products by emphasizing the humble utlitarian aspect of well-made and well-designed goods. After all, a dustpan no matter how exquisitely crafted is in the end just a dustpan. Nothing precious here.

We were curious to hear about Kiosk's struggles to survive in a neighborhood we seldom visit anymore after the arrival of so many chain stores and outside businesses that have little interest in downtown. Kiosk is the kind of business all too often mourned with gauzy nostalgia when they close in the face of rent increases or online competition. That it survives in the heart of one of the world's fiercest retail centers ought to call out all those who support the little guy since Kiosk stands as a friendly yet determined advocate of the personal. It is a place you remember long after you visit.