Slope Shopping for the Anti-Social

Photo via DNAinfo

Like shopping for antiques, but hate the whole human interaction aspect of the experience? Rejoice, anti-social residents of Park Slope! There is now a store created just for you. Robert Henry Vintage, located on 6th Avenue between 19th and 20th Streets, has a lovely window display of meticulously chosen housewares from the 60’s and 70’s…and that’s it. There is no actual store. Customers stand on the sidewalk and check out the merchandise in the window.

Want to purchase something? No problem! Whip out your smart phone and scan the QR code that corresponds with whatever item you want. The code will reroute you to a secure checkout screen where delivery or pickup of the item will also be arranged. Robert Walden and his partner, Henry Chung, tell DNAinfo that it is the “ultimate in window shopping. You can come by and look at the stuff and buy stuff without having to interact with anybody.”

I must confess that, like FiPS, I’m skeptical of the concept.

I f*cking hate it when sales people are on your back like a needy baby koala, but I don’t want them to NOT EXIST. Sometimes you need another person to validate that yes, in fact it’s a good idea to be purchasing a porcelain tea set for 12 (that George Washington might have owned), even though you have to store your clothes every season because there’s only room for “summer stuff” in your mini closet.

Robert Henry Vintage just strikes me as a more complicated form of online shopping and, really, if you can’t sit in front of your computer and shop for antiques in your underwear, what’s the point?