So begins Eric Schmalenberger’s journey to becoming one of Brooklyn’s most eccentric, passionate - and lovable - retail shop owners. 

It’s true: yes is not a word foreign to Schmalenberger. The NYU grad is a curator, producer, artist, performer, night-life personality and, now, business owner. The multi-hyphenate is the brains behind some of the city’s most avant-garde and legendary performances - Blunderland at Coney Island and Banzai! at the Red Lotus Room to name but two.

We spent an afternoon with Schmalenberger nosing around his new shop, ? The Store (“question the store”) which opened earlier this year. We were immediately enchanted by his sweetly wicked sense of humor - and style. The shop is a two-story treat full of some of the most magical pieces we’ve ever seen in a retail space. In fact, there are many pieces sold in ? The Store never been sold at any brick and mortar in NYC - talk about exclusive! 

It is exactly Schmalenberger’s humble, instinctual business strategy that makes him and his shop such a force. By admitting “I don’t exactly know what I’m doing,” he’s actually arming himself with immense power - it’s obvious he understands the transient nature of fashion and revels in it. He bemoans the lack of “sense of humor or whimsy” in most retail spaces and pushes his space to feel welcoming and fun, never taking itself too seriously.

Something Schmalenberger does take seriously when thinking about stocking his shop, however, is giving the radical queer community a 

legitimate space in Brooklyn to sell their original designs. He is a champion for the underdogs and eschews tradition every chance he gets - the weirder, the better.

There’s the iconic Muffinhead lightning bolt neckties, hand-cast unicorn sculptures by Kaitlyn Rose, pop-art inspired ceramics by Kenny Scharf, theatrical geometric designs for Geoffrey Mac (one of whose most recent clients is the Material Girl herself!) and the glittery paintings based on Pirelli calendar shots by Eric Coolidge. 

“These are meant for spinning,” Schmalenberger says of a floaty piece of fabric he’s holding, and for a split second we wonder how on Earth anyone would get themselves onto a stationary bicycle in it. But, ahh, of course! He literally means spinning - they’re meant to dance in! Schmalenberger is an advocate for genderless dressing, encouraging his customers to wear something if they like it, regardless of whether it may read masculine or feminine. Fashion and art should come from an organic place of passion and ?

The Store has that in spades.

COVER PHOTO CREDITS

Jacket- My Highschool Letterman Jacket reclaimed by my present self magically bound and seeled with symbols from my life by Wren Britton of Purevile

Lighting Ring- Muffinhead TKO Accessories

Tull Skirt- Juanita Cardenas