Full Carts

Claire Hamilton joins Devin and Andy to discuss storied NYC discount retailer Century 21 . Can the current store compete with its former incarnation as a cathedral of marked-down designer goods? Is their current audience tourists looking for a souvenir, savvy fashion folk, or those looking for a fancy label? Is coming of age in a group dressing room worth longing for? Do designers, aka “famous mak...

Devin and Andy check out California casual clothing brand Marine Layer . How ‘bout that Nee-Doh shortage? (Note retail price for a classic Nice Cube is $5.99!) How satisfying is calling ahead to reserve something in a store? How much of the appeal of a hot toy, or a retro ski jacket, is about the quest? How nice should salespeople be, and where in a store visit should that niceness be concentrated...

Devin and Andy visit Manhattan’s Chelsea Market , a popular food and shopping destination in the former National Biscuit Company factory. What is the meaning of merch for niche locations? What’s the proper way to honor the birthplace of the Oreo ? How well does soup travel on the subway? What is a sample sale these days? Are there enough places to sit? Should a mall fountain be soothing, or a gush...

Thomas Star joins Devin and Andy to discuss Night Owl Video , a shop in Williamsburg’s Analog Alley that sells new and used DVDs, VHS tapes, and related merchandise. Are digital video discs considered analog now? Is Blockbuster now quaint ? Can a movie collection be as clear a window into character as a music collection? If you’re going to buy someone DVDs as a gift, do you have to get them a play...

Leslie Price ( A&F and Uniqlo ) joins Devin and Andy again to talk about the Trader Joe’s shopping experience. Is TJ’s inspired by Tiki culture, nautical culture, or old-time whimsy? Do you know the meaning of the store bells? Has TJ's solved the issue of line stress? Has Trader Joe’s also done the impossible and made a store brand something that’s a good value and worth seeking out? Are y...

Devin, Andy, and guest Carlo Blackmore (see also: Michaels ) visit the New York Transit Museum . What does the new Vignelli-influenced subway map say? What’s more fun than a turnstile to nowhere? What is your favorite era of subway car? What does MetroCard nostalgia mean? What will you do with your vintage, subway-used grab hold ? Did you cast your vote for Miss Subways ?? Goodbye (and Good Riddan...

Devin and Andy visit the holiday market in Union Square. Is bigger always better with holiday markets? Does a good market experience mean finding that one vendor you really like, or an overall vibe that you’re into? What is your personal ranking of: Holiday Markets, Street Fairs, and Farmer’s Markets? Are we at peak ornament? Are booths selling old novels that have been turned into clocks part of...

Devin and Andy get their plaid on and visit the Filson (not Wilson, not Failson) flagship store in Union Square, Manhattan. Is this stuff for working outdoors, or for looking like you work outdoors? Are you supposed to actually sit on that cozy couch upstairs, play Scrabble, and read someone’s old scouting scrapbook? What do we talk about when we talk about the Raymond Carver book on display here?...

Devin and Andy visit Spirit Halloween and suss out whether it’s a trick or a treat. Or both! Can a Spirit store serve as a haunted house substitute? Is Bobby Strings the ultimate example of the name-letter effect? Are SpongeBob and Scooby-Doo characters as embedded in the costume canon as policeman, cheerleader, convict, and clown? What percentage of folks are looking to win a best costume award a...

Devin and Andy visit a Banana Republic Factory Store . Are old Banana Republic catalogs the real Great American Novel? At what age does a Newsies-style cap stop being ironic? Should a factory store offer a more affordable version of its big sibling’s styles, or be more of its own thing? Why can’t even AI figure out when Banana Republic Factory started? When culturally important chain stores close...

Devin, Andy, and guest Sam Talevich visit the Bandai Namco Cross Store in Industry City , Brooklyn. What is a Cross Store, exactly? How many Gashapon machines are required to have something for everyone? 150? 300? 3000?? Can you win at claw machines with proper training? Should there be a flagship store dedicated solely to Pac-Maniana? Do Taito no Tatsujin skills translate to real world drumming?...

Devin and Andy visit Daiso , a Japan-based discount home goods and variety store, in Brooklyn’s Industry City . Will “two and a quarter store” catch on as much as “dollar store”? Is pickle candy ever good? Can electric erasers bring us back to a time of buzzing offices and techno-optimism? Are we at, past, or still climbing to Peak Bag Dangler? How bougie do you like your garbage bags? Does your l...

Devin and Andy visit a newly opened Lidl —a discount grocery chain with roots in Germany—on a warm August day. Do people confuse Lidl and Aldi ? What about Aldo and Lids? Are all the prices with surprise endings, like, say, $2.47, trying to scramble our brains? How important is music to the grocery shopping experience? Are we ready for the grueling psychological test of comparing store brands and...

After a stop at See’s Candies , Devin and Andy visit America’s oldest apothecary, C.O. Bigelow . Will the drugstore soda fountain please come back? Does Bigelow represent peak tortoiseshell ? Are swanky manual toothbrushes bought exclusively for apartment photo shoots? Will the dream of Smell-O-Vision in every home be realized? What’s the best health-to-beauty ratio for a pharmacy? Are those real...

Devin, Andy, and guest Jared Selsberg head to a Brooklyn Cyclones game in Coney Island and report on the experience. What is the meaning behind the more whimsical minor league team names? Is a bobblehead or a baseball cap the ideal promotional item? How about jewelry or a spirit towel? Do we miss the stadium parking lot ticket reseller? How about roving food vendors, whose numbers seem to be dwind...

Devin and Andy visit The Locavore Variety Store in the West Village, Manhattan: a shop where nearly everything for sale is made within 100 miles. Is the artist as pencil sharpener present? Is the pencil the last honest object? Is there room for a nut company that doesn't use suggestive nut puns? What weird things do people want to do with/to a barrel of pickles? Do we need a movement to bring...

Devin and Andy visit and revisit classic infomercials and Home Shopping sales pitches. But wait, there’s more! Is the infomercial dead, or has it simply been struck down and gone on to become more powerful than we can possibly imagine? Will a new Ron Popeil or ShamWoW Vince rise to sell us on gadget bliss? Is something a true scam if (almost) everyone knows it’s a scam? Probably! Does the rich sat...

Devin, Andy and guest Leslie Price (co-founder of Gloria ) discuss Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo after a cold, cold open. Is Uniqlo’s Lifewear catalog a pretty decent magazine? Does the Uniqlo checkout, whether conscientiously handing back a credit card, or utilizing RFD tags, indicate a considered peak of customer service? Is a flagship a different store, essentially? Can an app’s sizing tech ev...

Devin and Andy go to the Lower East Side and visit the new gift/souvenir/smoking paraphernalia store from Nashville, A Shop of Things. Is it broadly true that Millenials and X-ers like charms , and Gen-Zers like stuffies? Where do you stand on seasonal soda varietals? Has ACME solved the express lane sign conundrum? Is there a Betty Boopissance happening? If you were to wear a cap with a food writ...

Devin and Andy check out vintage clothing resellers 2nd STREET and Buffalo Exchange . Should people approach the attempt to sell their beloved things to a secondhand store as a kind of therapy, wherein the ego is stripped bare? Do we care about getting top $, or do we mostly want to be told our stuff is special? What should we do with all the negative-star reviews we write in our heads? Shouldn't...

Devin, Andy, and Claire Hamilton visit the new Printemps store on Wall Street. What and who is a department store for, now? Is this really a supersized boutique? Is the best department store the one with the most seating? Will this place foment a revolution, or be a cool place to meet someone for snacks and people watching? What does it take for a store to set you dreaming?? Novel excerpt: Playwor...

Devin and Andy check out CVS, one of two big drugstore chains standing. Do Mini Melts and Dippin' Dots need their own Twizzlers vs Red Vines style debate? How important is the condition of the actual floor in a chain drugstore experience? Would you be up for some throwback Consumer Value Stores merch? Would people be buying Fubbles Bubble Blasters if they were 25 dollars? How about $100? Does Rewi...

Devin, Andy, and guest Claire Hamilton visit Art of Play : a puzzle- and game-forward toy shop with a secret theater for close-up magic . Will Andy learn how to pronounce Printemps before they get there? Can magic be new ? What do magicians mean now, culturally? How far back did Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium set the cause of irl wonder emporia? Is it a puzzle? A fidget? A toy? An executive desk s...

Devin and Andy drop in and visit Zumiez . Is it a shoe store, a clothing store, or a skate store? What is the meaning of “mallthentic”? How does this place triangulate with Spencer’s and Hot Topic? What clothing or accessories did your school forbid? How is Lord Nermal related to Garfield’s Nermal, if at all? Is Nirvana pure merch now? Was everyone at least skater-adjacent in the 90s? Keep A Breas...

Devin and Andy consider the state of the Newsstand in New York City. Have newsstands taken some of that big OTB energy? Is it true newsstands aren’t allowed to sell anything for more than $20? Are newsstands slowly working their way back into the subways? Are Corn Nuts health food? What pivot could restore this essential street-level retail to glory? How does sound sculpture fit into all this?   ...