From TriCity News:
IN FLUX : BIG CHANGES AHEAD FOR ASBURY PARK’S FLUX MODERN AS THEY EXPAND TO OCEAN GROVE.
midcentury furniture
mid century modern, vintage, asbury park
From the New York Times!
Greetings (and Shopping) From Asbury Park, N.J.
Can vintage and salvage sellers bridge an economic divide?
By Hayley Krischer | Aug. 9, 2018
…”Danielle and Drew Levinson opened their midcentury modern furniture store, Flux Modern, three years ago at the Shoppes at the Arcade on 658 Cookman Avenue, an 1889 building that was once a Woolworth store. Their window front space has exposed brick, Sputnik chandeliers and reclaimed basketball court flooring.
The building has become something of a center for vintage stores. Twenty fill the space including Backwards Glances, a vintage-clothing shop; Groovy Graveyards, selling records; Flying Saucers (kitchenware); and Kill Screen Games, which sells used video games.
“The town has seen its darker days,” Mr. Levinson said. “But you kind of bring it back to life with a little polish and give it another life.”
Ms. Levinson winced at her husband’s remark. “It depends on how you look at it,” she said. She is concerned that artists, musicians and other lower-income people are going to get pushed out. “Which we know a little bit about,” she said. “The rent has already gone up here quite a bit.”
Over the past three years, the Levinsons have moved Flux Modern from a 300-square-foot space to a 900-square-foot space, and their clientele has expanded to include set designers from “The Deuce” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
They use Instagram as a selling tool. “I’ll post something new as soon as I get it,” Mr. Levinson said. “And sometimes it’s gone before I even take it out of my van.”
Also helping them out with sales is Judy Feinstein, 83, a former pilot who showed off an Amelia Earhart medal that she wore around her neck. “I’m the real vintage one in here,” Ms. Feinstein said, and then handed everyone cake.”
asbury park, mid century modern
From the Asbury Park Press!
Asbury retro furniture store sees big future
Susan Bloom | Correspondent | May 4 2016
“After graduating from Temple University, Toms River native Drew Levinson, 35, enjoyed a successful career editing a variety of high-profile films, music videos, commercials and corporate videos on both coasts.
But in between those jobs, “my wife Danielle and I loved to go on treasure hunts to flea markets and garage sales,” he said, once even taking an extended vacation along a garage sale trail from Michigan to Louisiana. “We went with an empty car and came back with a full car,” Levinson said. “At the time, we were just looking for cool old things that we liked for ourselves – not to sell.”
Of all of the vintage finds available, “I fell in love with mid-century modern furniture,” said Levinson of an interest that started after the owners of the 1950s-era Toms River home the couple purchased in 2009 left all of their original furniture behind. “We kept a lot of it because we loved it, and soon found that the pieces we sold were worth some money,” he said.
“We began looking into the designs of that era – mid-century style has clean, architectural lines that fit perfectly with our aesthetic – and thought how much we’d like to offer others the look of that time mixed with a more modern feel,” Levinson said.
Leap of vintage faith
Together with Danielle, 32, a former lingerie designer for Victoria’s Secret who was ready to give up her long daily commute to New York City, the two rented a space in an antique mall in Red Bank and enjoyed buying and selling their finds, but soon realized they needed more space. “Our house was filling up fast,” Levinson said of the four mid-century couches stationed on their back porch and the nearly two dozen chairs stored in their living room.
Though both nervous to leave their steady jobs, “We were excited to take a chance on doing something for ourselves that we could do together,” he said, and honed in on Asbury Park because “we liked the vibe there and it had a good mix of antique stores, restaurants and other shops; there’s such an excitement and resurgence in the town.”
Leasing a 250-square-foot space in the town’s Shoppes at the Arcade in 2014, “we used our artistic and graphic design skills to design the space and the layout of the merchandise,” to the thrill of many loyal customers, Levinson said. “We actually ended up going through merchandise so quickly that we realized we needed more space,” he said, leading them to move to a larger showroom next door this January and also secure 1,200 square feet of warehouse space to store their pieces.
Within the cozy, 1,000-square-foot space now occupied by Flux Modern – named because “we buy and sell a lot of pieces and our inventory is constantly in flux,” Levinson explained – lovers of vintage items will enjoy a variety of home furnishings and décor as well as lighting fixtures, living room, bedroom and patio furniture, and dining room sets from the 1950s to the 1970s.
“Pieces from this period have a huge following now, driven in large part by the popularity of shows like 'Mad Men,'” Levinson said. “Our customers are everyone from young people looking for stylish, affordable pieces to furnish their first home to collectors in search of iconic pieces by famous mid-century designers like Eames and Bertoia.”
To serve all customers along this spectrum, “we sell home décor items such as vintage cameras and barware for as little as $5 all the way up to a $3,500 Danish teak wall unit,” he said, “though most of our items are in the $300 to $700 range.”
'A real eye'
Denim fashion designer and Jersey City resident Steven Butow first learned of Flux Modern after visiting friends in Asbury Park and has since become a loyal fan.
“We have a house in the Catskills that we decided to decorate in mid-century modern and Drew and Danielle have great taste and a real eye for pieces from that time period,” Butow said. “We’ve already purchased a table, patio set, credenza for the dining room, two clocks and a rug and we hope to get a sofa and other items soon. In addition to having a wonderful selection of mid-century modern pieces, Drew and Danielle are fabulous to work with and even delivered to our home in the Catskills.“
Levinson confirmed that the business can be demanding, particularly the physical challenges of lifting, moving and delivering heavy furniture. “We also have to pay attention to what people are and aren’t buying so that our inventory doesn’t sit,” he said.
But the number of other vintage and antique stores in Asbury Park doesn’t concern him. “I actually love to see a lot of dealers selling this style of product,” he said, “because it makes Asbury Park an antiques destination, particularly for those shoppers coming in from out of town.”
With Drew responsible for the transport of pieces as well as marketing and promotional activities such as their all-important social media presence, Danielle in charge of finding and preparing pieces for sale, one employee helping to staff the shop and other “pickers” who help buy for them along the way, Flux Modern has become a dream come true for its retro-loving owners.
“We love the thrill of the hunt and the fact that brand new things come in every day; it allows us to play with the look and feel of the shop,” shared Levinson, whose customers have included set designers from HBO and other networks.
“We love finding the next cool thing, and selling it is a bonus. We like to think we’re giving these pieces a new life,” he added, “and seeing these pieces in customers’ homes and the way they’ve built them into their lives is really rewarding.”
Mentioned in the New York Post!
Couple crafts delightful Bunny Mansion for their beloved pets
By Anna Davies | November 28, 2018
…”We definitely have eclectic taste,” says Hood. “We don’t like typical things.” Wood, brass and bold colors are found throughout the house. Furniture from West Elm and Crate & Barrel is mixed with vintage finds, like a dining room sideboard sourced from Flux Modern, a vintage furniture store in Asbury Park, NJ, that specializes in midcentury-modern pieces.”
Carol Saint Hilaire and Jon Hood's renovated Jersey City house is centered around their pet bunnies, Jelly (far left) and Hoyt-Bergen. Tamara Beckwith/NY Post
asbury park, mid century modern, vintage
Mentioned in the Washington Post!
Greetings from Asbury Park, love Mom and the kids
By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux | Feb. 22, 2019
In January, boardwalk visitors stroll through the old casino building in Asbury Park, N.J., where new attractions have turned the town into an all-ages getaway. (Mel Evans/Associated Press)
…”When I went to Rutgers in the early ’90s, Asbury was the place to go to hear live music. My college photo albums are filled with friends hanging around the legendary dive bar and rock club the Stone Pony and posing in front of Madam Marie’s fortunetelling booth, the Temple of Knowledge — immortalized in song by Bruce Springsteen, who famously got his start here. In other pictures, we’re outside the majestic circa-1928 Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre, seagulls perched atop its sculptures of mermaids and sailors.
Fast-forward a decade or two, and the seaside city with the storied music scene has undergone a major renaissance, marked by a surge in development and an influx of millennial creatives and entrepreneurs. There is now a slew of year-round boardwalk restaurants, such as Pop’s Garage, a taco joint that serves standout dishes like sweet corn rolled in cotija, alongside older favorites such as Wonder Bar, which doubles as a pulsing live music venue. Retail has followed suit, with arrivals like the midcentury modern furniture store Flux Modern, whose clients reportedly include the set designers for “The Deuce” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” In the same vein, the city now has an eclectic calendar of year-round public events that include Catsbury, which bills itself as the biggest cat convention on the East Coast, and an Irish Viking parade through downtown.”…