“This appeared today in the window of the old Lady Liberty souvenir shop on Broadway, next door to Western Spirit. Any idea what it is?” —R.

The address is 393 Broadway, between Walker and White, and there exist a Facebook page for something called Supermarket393, an Instagram account for Supermarket393, and even a website (not live yet), supermarket393.com. The Facebook page lists a phone number, which goes to the Exposure creative/communications agency located in floors 2-5 of that building. But the person who answered the phone claimed ignorance in a completely persuasive way.

I was prepared to wait and see when I heard back from a source who often knows answers to questions like this: “It sounds pretty cool. Part office/part store with client merchandise. I bet you can call them directly to get more info.”

So I called again, and the person who answered this time claimed ignorance a bit less persuasively. I pushed, and she gave me an email address of someone at Exposure who knows all about it (i.e., who is authorized to talk about it), and I dutifully emailed. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to go anywhere; the more high-fashion a business is, the less likely it is to talk to a neighborhood blog.

Wrong again! Exposure partner/creative director Tom Phillips called me soon after. “We are opening an exhibition and gallery space. It’ll be a multifunctional space, showing film and photography. And we’ll also be using the space to sell different branded collections.” He said that Exposure has been at 393 Broadway for 10 years now; it started with five people on the fifth floor, and now it’s the sole tenant. “We have a floor of creatives, a floor of strategists, a floor of PR/communications…. When the storefront became available, we thought, ‘Let’s go the whole hog. Let’s take this opportunity and create something different for the area, for us, and for Broadway.'”

The retail component will be “modular”—i.e., changed up periodically. “Some of the stuff we do down there will be supported by brands we work with. We work with a lot of very interesting fashion brands. Lots of them are small emerging fashion brands that we’ll be able to bring to NYC and let them have a presence on Broadway without having to sign up for a yearly lease.” Phillips said that it was “a bit tricky” to name names just yet, but you can see some of Exposure’s clients on this page.

They’re shooting to open the Supermarket in mid-November.

Got a question? Email it to tribecacitizen@gmail.com or call/text 917-209-6473.

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