INSPIRATION

This was a dream born on road trips with my immigrant parents, eager to explore America, the country that was their new home.  No matter the destination, all roads lead to a General Store.  A place to gather supplies and souvenirs, ask for recommendations and grab a cup of joe.  The pulse of their communities, it was usually our first stop.  A spot for locals and tourists alike… no two were the same. 

 

Broome St.

Broome St. runs across downtown Manhattan east to west and figuratively from Chinatown to Soho as a bustling cultural thoroughfare.  

After several years of roommate life and a few months following 9/11, I was looking for a fresh start and a place to call my own.  I found that in a tiny studio loft on Broome St.  I filled that apartment with all the goodness I found in shops from my neighborhood.  They were owned by young entrepreneurs and established-neighborhood-family-businesses that had been core in the immigrant neighborhoods for as long as the communities have existed.  It was a melting pot of entrepreneurship in the face of tragedy.  This little corner of the world, at that slice of the hourglass, before the Internets and social media took over our lives.  Was what I was trying to bottle under one roof at Broome St. General.  

With its roots in the original General Stores I visited as kid, our shop is literally a collection from my home to yours.  here is not one way to make a home or create a lifestyle.  Maya Angelou said, 

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”  

Words to live by.  We’re here to help with all the things you may need along the way and when you get there.  

C. Sophie Graham

Founder & Finder, Broome St. General Store
photo: Jennifer Young