Evolution, Natural History Store Of Dreams
NewYork, NY – The best part of any kid’s trip to the museum is the gift shop. After hours of being saturated with way too much information and walking around for hours, tired boys and girls (and dutiful parents) pile into a room filled with colorful geodes and anatomically-correct plush tarantulas, something ‘educational’ for the bedside table.
Sure, that’s cool and all, but there’s a store down the street that’s stepping it up. If New York City is one whirling, dangerous museum, than The Evolution Store — on the corner of Mercer and Spring — is New York City’s awesome scientific gift shop.
You may have walked by Evolution while pretending to be a rich, stable person in the West Village. It’s that store with fetus skulls in the front window, or that place where Project Accessory had that crazy bug challenge when Rich Sandomeno totally crushed that acceso-whore Christina Caruso (maybe? is that a thing?). “Its like a natural history museum where you can take everything home,” says assistant Amanda Lechner. When you walk inside Evolution, the sheer amount of stuff in the space is almost overwhelming. Every inch of wall and counter space is packed with some natural artifact, anomaly, or collectible: skulls, taxidermy, crystals, insects, fossilized shells. When you stare at the ceiling, rows and rows of shark jaws chomp at you. Walk up the stairs; you’re surrounded by the huge displays of full-size skeletons and big stuffed birds. Every corner of the counter case is covered with pinned insects, from gorgeous butterflies to twisted nightcrawlers.
