THE FRIEND ZONE
Emma Kadar-Penner’s groovy Brooklyn gift shop has something for everyone
“Everybody in New York is looking for something,” the author Donald E. Westlake once wrote. Chances are, you can find it at Friends NYC, a gift emporium in Bushwick, co-founded by Emma Kadar-Penner, Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA ’14.
A lighter emblazoned with a cigar-chomping Tony Soprano. A rug that looks like a stick of butter. Hair clips in the shape of pugs and prescription bottles. Building this “weird and wonderful” array, as Kadar-Penner calls it, is an impressive curatorial feat. The store’s selection is varied yet personal, unique yet accessible, with many items under $50.
Kadar-Penner’s interest in fashion curation brought her to FIT; while finishing her degree, she worked as a collections management assistant with The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
She also scored a part-time gig at her friend Mary Meyer’s clothing business, assisting with design and administration. Meyer eventually expanded, renting the Bushwick space to sell her designs plus vintage items. In 2014, Kadar-Penner made Friends her full-time job.
Originally called Friends Vintage, the store became Friends NYC after Meyer and Kadar-Penner added candles, cards, and other gift items. Customers loved the new selection. “Part of why we’re successful is because we’ve been in the neighborhood for so long. We listen to what our customers want, and they continue to support us,” Kadar-Penner says.
Notable customers have included Katie Holmes, Malia Obama, and Zosia Mamet of Girls fame. And what do customers want most? A candle in the shape of a baguette, a best seller they’ve carried for about nine years that has gotten press in Apartment Therapy and Architectural Digest.
Their wares come from many different sources. Kadar-Penner and Meyer create moodboards with their team, do extensive research, and go on buying trips. Kadar-Penner’s been everywhere from big trade shows to “gift shows in the middle of nowhere,” from Mexico City to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in search of fantastic and far-out pieces.
BEST SELLER: BAGUETTE CANDLE
Some items, like the Tony Soprano lighter, Friends NYC produces. “We personally like the ’90s and aughts, so nostalgia is something we do really well,” she says, “and it works with what the customers want.” The website is proof. Shop by “Mood,” and the first option that comes up is “Y2K”—along with of-the-moment categories like “Barbiecore.”
And they’re expanding their selection even further. They’ve been adding smoking accessories, “blind boxes” of toys, and bath and body products—“something Mary and I are obsessed with,” she says—from buzzy brands like Edie Parker, Squishmallows, and Vacation.
Working with friends is notoriously challenging, but starting part-time helped Kadar-Penner ease into the coworker relationship. “It’s just been a pleasure and has brought us closer together,” she says. Friends indeed. —Vanessa Machir
