Nosy Neighbor: What’s the YogaSmoga Townhouse on Greenwich Street?

Yogasmoga sign at 428 GreenwichThe door at 428 Greenwich has a sign on it saying “YogaSmoga Townhouse.” I see that YogaSmoga is a yoga clothing brand, but what’s the townhouse part about? —K.

courtesy YogaSmogaIndeed, YogaSmoga is an activewear brand—and then some: “A lot of people think of themselves as clothing companies who sell yoga apparel,” says the company’s About page on Facebook. “We think of ourselves differently. We are a yoga and wellness company that makes things for life.”

From a Business Insider article in April of 2015:

Brother-sister duo Rishi and Tapasya Bali grew up at the base of the Himalayas in India, an area known as the birthplace of yoga. In 2010, both quit their Wall Street jobs—Rishi at Goldman Sachs and Tapasya at Credit Suisse—to start a company to bring them back to their yoga roots. Their yoga apparel and lifestyle company, YogaSmoga, has now closed its $6.5 million Series B round, valuing the company at $74 million.

The YogaSmoga Townhouse is the new headquarters. I thought the company might be opening a store on the ground floor, where Daruma-Ya restaurant used to be, because this Google+ page refers to the location as “Corporate Office, Clothing Store.

But according to a YogaSmoga staffer, there are “no plans for a store front as yet.” (Note the last two words.) Indeed, the company is busy opening its first Manhattan store on Bond Street. That doesn’t mean the Townhouse will be totally off-limits: “The Townhouse is a community creative space. YogaSmoga hopes to host events for their Namaskár foundation here and it provides a space to engage with teachers.” The staffer said that YogaSmoga didn’t buy the building (which used to have a “for sale” sign on it); instead, it’s renting.

Yogasmoga Townhouse at 428 Greenwich

 

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