Auto.

2009-12-09T14:03:00.001-08:00

Wonder Girl by MelissaKaye brrrr it's cold featuring Jil Sander shoes

Items in this set:
Cotton And Mohair Blend Cardigan - Products - Fashion Addicts
Sass & Bide Frayed Misfit skinny jeans, $71
Jil Sander Pointed spazzalato leather flats, $263
H&M - zdjęcie
BORBA MARGO, 320 EUR

Getting charged for the Holidays.

2009-12-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

December is here and the Holidays are fast approaching. To start off the season we are offering these hand embroidered scarves from designer Judy Ross. They are available for a limited time only and come in 14 styles to choose from.

Get them all here.

2009-11-19T13:42:00.001-08:00

Though we would share some recent press on products available at Auto.

New. Greeting Card Sets form Pancakes & Franks

2009-10-30T10:35:00.001-07:00

More Jane Jacobs Less Marc Jacobs

2009-10-16T08:44:00.001-07:00

Read this interview with graphic designer Mike Joyce of Stereotype Design that is on the blog Vanishing New York. He created this campaign commentary on the ever changing character of the West Village. I've been seeing these in windows in the neighborhood (specifically on the south side of Horatio between Greenwich and Washington). It certainly makes you think how big anything really needs to be. As a small independent retailer, we could not feel more in tune.

Just Arrived...Fall Scarves from Epice

2009-10-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

Danish, French and Indian inspired scarves. Perfect for in between seasons or those chilly autumn evenings.

Meatpacking Uncorked Friday, October 9, 2009

2009-10-03T03:53:00.000-07:00

The streets of the Meatpacking District will be electric as the neighborhood hosts “Meatpacking Uncorked.” Tantalizing revelers with a district-wide wine tasting and food sampling accompanied by dazzling street performances, this Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival party promises to be the event that can’t be missed. The district’s chic boutiques will flow with a large selection of wines in the Southern Wine & Spirits of New York portfolio while the neighborhood’s best restaurants will be serving samplings of their signature snacks. Toasting, tasting and shopping in the district will be infused with the gusto of Food Network personalities, performance artists, musicians, and other sexy and sophisticated spectacles.

More info at nycwineandfoodfestival.com

GGGGreat Site.

2009-09-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

FFFFOUND! is a web service that not only allows the users to post and share their favorite images found on the web, but also dynamically recommends each user's tastes and interests for an inspirational image-bookmarking experience!!

Check it out at
http://ffffound.com/

Design Sponge and O-Check

2009-09-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Thank You Design*Sponge for the mention today!

Click to go to Design*Sponge

Shop with us on Refinery 29

2009-09-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

For up to the minute information on style and fashion from independent stores and designers be sure to check out Refinery 29. Auto. also has an online shop there.

FROM REFINERY 29:

Design afficionados Renata Bokalo and Roman Luba consider Auto, their Meatpacking boutique, to be a bit like a laboratory. They encourage designers to try new things and, in return, they offer up covetable items fellow aficionados won't find anywhere else. Everything from jewelry to baby items and home goods find their place in what originally began as a storefront/showroom. Luba points out that the name Auto popped into their collective design head and stuck. "It's a word no one uses anymore, but yet it's still modern. We interpret it as being of self–doing things for yourself." The store's simple white design functions like a blank shell that can metamorphize from season to season. Bokalo's innate knack for choosing and editing merch is often determined by the couple's attraction to color. "Color doesn't necessarily mean modern or even old," Luba says. "We look for something that evokes warmth." Expect colorful Missoni towels and robes, Jane D'Arensbourg glass jewelry, vintage Vera scarves, and one of their best sellers: a Sleeping Pig sculpture decorated with mysterious symbols.

The Goods: An eclectic selection of merch ranging from Judy Ross pillows to Missoni towels, Jane D'Arensbourg jewelry, and a Sleeping Pig sculpture thought to be good luck.

Lucky Magazine: Lucky Breaks Online

2009-09-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

In soft fall tones, the iconic Missoni pattern revitalizes a solid-colored sofa.

The Deal: Save 25 percent. Regular price: $180. Lucky Breaks Online price: $135.

How to get it: Go to thisisauto.com and enter "lucky7" at checkout.

O-Check Graphic Journals

2009-09-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Just arrived are a line journals and notebooks from a design company in Korea called O-Check. Simply put they are highly functional without too much decoration.

New York Times Article about Roman & Renata

2009-09-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

This is a NY Times article (Habitats Section) that ran about owners(and married couple) Roman Luba & Renata Bokalo last year.

See and hear an Audio Slide Show

A Space Above Work

ROMAN LUBA first saw Renata Bokalo at a Ukrainian summer camp in upstate New York. He was 8 years old. She was 4.

They live in a one-bedroom above their home-design store, Auto. LOVINGLY DECORATED A wall holds an assortment of artwork, some from their Ukrainian roots, next to a 1950s couch.

“My mother was the nurse,” said Ms. Bokalo, who is now 34, “and I hung around with her in the nurse’s office, so all the kids knew me.”

“I definitely remember her,” said Mr. Luba, 38.

Both are first-generation Ukrainian-Americans, and the freezer in their lovingly decorated one-bedroom rental in the West Village contains only ice, vodka and frozen pirogi made by Mr. Luba’s mother.

After meeting at summer camp, Mr. Luba, who grew up in Philadelphia, and Ms. Bokalo, who grew up in New Jersey, went their separate ways.

As adults they became reacquainted through mutual friends. And in 1996 Ms. Bokalo joined Mr. Luba in the sprawling apartment he rented in what used to be law offices on a then-desolate stretch of Court Street in downtown Brooklyn. She was an agent representing illustrators. He was a graphic artist. All their friends lived in Manhattan, and it was nearly impossible to entice them across the river for visits.

A lot of these friends were product designers, and in 1999 the couple decided to open a business selling the works of artisans they knew — a ceramicist, glass blower, pillow maker, textile designer and leather worker.

Their inexperience made them fearless. “We were young and wanted a change,” Ms. Bokalo said.

Mr. Luba said, “We were ready for any risk.”

They found a storefront in Manhattan on Washington Street, between Gansevoort and Horatio Streets. At the time, the nearby meatpacking district still dealt in meat — both bovine and human, in the form of sex clubs and prostitutes. They opened their store, called Auto, the same year that Pastis, the French bistro, and Jeffrey, the luxury-goods store, opened nearby. They had no idea they were pioneers in what would soon become a hot destination.

“We commuted in from the suburbs, meaning Brooklyn, everyday, and somehow everything worked out,” Ms. Bokalo said.

A very noisy family lived above the store. “From below it sounded like they were bowling,” Ms. Bokalo said.

When the family moved out, Ms. Bokalo and Mr. Luba rented the apartment to use as an office. By September 2001, they had ripped out part of the kitchen and were preparing to install office-type fixtures when they took a trip to Paris. Mr. Luba had an engagement ring in his pocket that he planned to spring on Ms. Bokalo. Then, of course, came the terrible news that the Twin Towers had been destroyed.

They returned to a neighborhood that was cut off from the world by barricades. Their business sank, and they had to lay off the entire staff of two. It took six weeks for Mr. Luba to actually bring out the ring and propose.

They decided to consolidate, and in October, they moved into the apartment originally intended as an office.

Because they were saving for their wedding, which they planned to hold at the summer camp where they first met, they didn’t fix up the place before moving in. “We moved before painting or doing any other work,” Ms. Bokalo said.

The next spring, they were married at the camp. Guests danced to live polka music, ate Ukrainian treats, gathered around a bonfire and fell asleep in tents.

Over time the couple’s business, like the city, thrived again, and they turned their new apartment into a striking home. The walls are now a deep gray that seems ominous on a rainy day as wind whips through the potato vines and oxalis that Ms. Bokalo tends in planters outside their second-story windows. Their nine-month-old wire-haired vizsla, named Edie, lies on a stylish dog bed designed by Utility Canvas — from the store, of course.

The functional kitchen has cheap white cabinets and restaurant-supply-store stainless steel shelves with a butcher-block counter, and a Rancilio espresso machine that Ms. Bokalo chose after doing a lot of research on how to get the best demitasse.

The couple cook a lot, or, rather, he cooks and she cleans. She also shops, preferring the Abingdon Square and Union Square farmer’s markets to the gourmet stores in the area. When they run out of her mother-in-law’s pirogi, they pick some up at Café Glechik in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.

“We are very particular about our food,” Ms. Bokalo said. “We buy fish when we are going to serve fish — we shop as we need it.”

At one recent Ukrainian Easter celebration they served stewed kielbasa, ham, sausage, eggs, cured meats and other delights. “Pretty much everything but vegetables,” Mr. Luba said.

Sometimes they have friends over for dinner at their round white dining room table, which is lighted by a David Weeks sconce. Unstained Billy-brand shelves stacked against the living room wall do nothing to betray their Ikea roots, suggesting instead a more expensive store.

“I think that filling the shelves is the secret to that,” Mr. Luba said.

Another wall holds artwork, ranging from an oil portrait of a rooster that Mr. Luba had on the wall when he was a child to works by modern Ukrainian artists to a severe portrait of Mr. Luba’s father in the corner, next to a 1950s couch from Ms. Bokalo’s aunt.

Personal mementos, like the couple’s wedding invitation, in Ukrainian and English, have also been worked into the mix. Pillows designed by Judy Ross, bedding by John Robshaw, and flatware by John Pomp, all of which they sell downstairs in Auto, fill out the room. In the bedroom, three oil paintings of Ukrainian women by Ms. Bokalo’s grandmother rise up the wall in a line.

In 2005, they expanded their empire by renting the storefront next door, and the two Auto stores are now linked by the garden, which is not directly accessible from their apartment.

On a peaceful night they’ll open one of the security grates and return to the garden table, which Mr. Luba pieced together from an old Knoll base, and nice planks. They speak in Ukrainian as they enjoy the night sounds.

It’s the camp upstate, downtown.

Fall Yard Sale Online Edition

2009-09-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Fall Yard Sale Online Edition has been extended through next week.

Go to www.thisisauto.com

Timeout New York listed the Auto. Yard Sale. Splendid.

2009-09-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

Auto
Decent yard sales in the city—and most suburbs—are hard to come by, so when there’s one this amazing, you’d better go! This design shop is marking down items—including home pieces , baby products, jewelry and gifts—all up to 70 percent off. Scoop up Thirtyfour leather satchels, whittled from $285 to $150; Missoni multicolored bath and hand towels, sliced from $45 to $30; and Lucia Nenickova handmade belts, halved to $100.803–805 Washington St between Gansevoort and Horatio Sts (212-229-2292). Subway: A, C, E to 14th St; L to Eighth Ave. Thu 10–Sat 12 11am–7pm; Sun 13 11am–6pm.
Read more:http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/tonyblog/2009/09/your-weekly-sample-sale-update-part-one-20/#ixzz0QkGfWqqZ

The New York Times listed our Yard Sale. Hoorah.

2009-09-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the link.

A Spectacular Sale

2009-09-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

Auto.'s Fall Yard Sale

Auto. is having its four day Fall Yard Sale in the tented backyard garden, rain or shine. In addition to offering Auto. sale merchandise, we have invited multiple other emerging and established designers to contribute overstock, samples and clearance items. Merchandise will be reduced to at least 50% off retail. Now in it's fifth year, the sale keeps getting bigger. This season's designers will include:

Home
Anupuma, Cote Table, Graphic Image, Ingrid Cusson, John Derian, Etro, Fomato Stationary, John Pomp Glass, John Robshaw, Judy Ross Textiles, Matteo, Missoni Home, Plover Organic Bedding, Sweet Bella, Unison Bedding

Baby
Egg Baby, Kit + Lili, Momma Couture, Oeuf, Pink Chicken, Shirin Kids, Winter Water Factory

Clothing/Accessories
A Fortes, Christina Lehr, Dutzi, Epice scarves, Hermitwear Tees, Lucia Nenickova, Matta, Meg Cohen, Mischa Lampert, Paul Smith, Pollux, Sleeping Partners, Sphere One by Lucy Downes, Thirty Four, Tracy Watts, Virginia Johnson

Jewelry
Andrea Corson, Jane DÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Arensbourg, Ike and Court, Kim Gilby, Nathalie Uhl, Tam Tran

When
Thursday through Sunday
September 10-13, 2009

Where
803 & 805 Washington St
(btwn Gansevoort + Horatio Sts)
Across from the entrance to the Highline.

Time
Thursday through Saturday 11am-7pm,
Sunday 11am-6pm
Subway
A,C,E or 1,2,3 to 14th St. or L to 8th Ave

Payment
Cash and major credit cards

Food
Street Sweets truck will be parked in the front of the sale.
www.streetsweetsny.com

2009-09-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

Thank You Outblush.com for the great descriptive write up(see below).

Stop Talking Card Set

Sometimes big gifts come in small packages. We like to send a strong message without saying much at all with this adorably witty Stop Talking Card Set ($10). Slightly sarcastic undertones never hurt anyone and, for the right recipient of this gift set, one could even be flattered by such humorous stationery.

End of Summer Sale Items

2009-08-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

The end of summer approaches so it is time to move some merch that could not find the love at full price. It's your gain! Items from home, jewelry and accessories all online at THISISAUTO!

Go ahead and shop.

Plover Organic on Outblush.com

2009-08-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Plover Organic write up on Outblush

Plover Organics Duvet

Plover Orangics is a company that creates extremely functional items for the home using all organic fibers and dyes. Their green mission is something that we try to be mindful of whenever making purchases for home items like towels, rugs, and other home linens. This Plover Organics Duvet($350) is made of the finest organic material and comes in a beautiful array of colors like this brick red pattern. Keeping our home and our Earth green, now that is a mission we can get behind.

2009-08-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

Go and check out AREAWARE pop-up shop in Manhattan at Port Authority. "Design to Go" is being plugged as a travel supply store and souvenir shop, with a bent towards the all kinds of commuters.

"Design to Go"
641 8th Avenue, Port Authority
August 18 - September 26
Monday - Friday 11am - 8pm
Saturday 12pm - 6pm

House of Leifer Pendants

2009-08-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

We are now working with jewelry designer Danielle Gregory. She has created a collection of letter and number pendants. Customize a selection that has personal meaning; initials, dates, lucky numbers. In 18K yellow, pink or black gold, with or without gemstones.

Herringbone Hound Dog Product Launch

2009-08-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight.
Herringbone Hound by Variegated.
Dog Beds, Blankets, and Totes.

Cocktail Reception 6-8pm
Auto.
805 Washington Street
btwn Horatio + Gansevoort

HERRINGBONE HOUND BY VARIEGATED is available for purchase instore starting today. Beds $135-210, totes $125, lavender sachets $10 each, and blankets $45-110 all made in the USA of 100% organic cotton canvas grown and woven in the USA. Select from two patterns and three colors choices.

Meatpacking District Cool Factor

2009-08-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

What is cool, and then not cool, and then cool, and then not cool, and then cool again. Read what the NY Post has to say...

DOWNTOWN Manhattan always has something going on if you know where to find it. But who would've ever guessed the much-mocked Meatpacking District would once again become a destination spot for area partygoers that don't wear Ed Hardy shirts and Axe body spray?

For nearly a decade, there seems to have been a one-cool-venue maximum imposed on the tourist-friendly night-life zone that was seemingly built to be a "Sex and the City" set.

Now these cobblestone streets lead to a few chic new boites not interested in catering to bailed-out bankers and gold diggers. And there's no doubt the area's better for it. Could it be the Meatpacking District is cool again?

NEATPACKING" YES, IT'S TRUE: THIS 'HOOD IS COOL AGAIN. SERIOUSLY.Go to article.

Under $100: Bedside Table Decor

2009-08-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

From design*sponge.

Bedding Sale

2009-08-11T10:59:00.001-07:00

Out with the old and in with some new bedding. We are currently having a sale on all of our bedding, including custom orders.

Featuring John Robshaw Textiles, Plover Organic, Unison, Utility Canvas, and Brahms Mount.

Sale is going on in our brick and mortar store and at thisisauto(dot)com

The Top 100 Boutiques in New York: luckymag.com

2009-08-07T10:23:00.001-07:00

The Top 100 Boutiques in New York: luckymag.com

Shared via AddThis

Best Bet:Lucky Charms from New York Magazine

2009-08-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a New York Magazine (dot)com mention from last week.

We wrote off charm bracelets sometime back in the nineties; the novelty of collecting a representative trinket for every occasion faded fast. We’ve since seen various incarnations of the personalized jewelry trend, from Carrie Bradshaw–spawned nameplate necklaces to Swarovski’s crystallized empire. But L.B. Valentine’s double-sided letter charms caught our eye with their tongue-in-cheek, mockingly cute images. "U" pairs a unicorn on one side with a pair of well-endowed tightie-whities; "J" depicts a jackpot and the ubiquitous jumpsuit; "T" shows a comely trapeze artist and target practice; and "M," fittingly, is for man and magnet (there’s something cheekily amusing about a having tiny male torso inscribed in fourteen-karat gold). Who says you have to stick to your own initials?

L.B. Valentine charms, $67 (sterling silver) or $496 (fourteen-karat gold) each at Auto or online.

Event: The Dog Days

2009-08-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

Auto. presents The Dog Days. Please join us for an evening of cocktails to celebrate the launch of Herringbone by Variegated, the new line of canine cushions, blankets, and other accessories.

Our four legged friends are welcome.

Tuesday August 18th
6-8PM
805 Washington Street, NYC
(between Gansevoort & Horatio Streets)

Jewelry Designers at Auto.

2009-08-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

A current list if designers that we are working with.

J Han
Jessica Scott
Lauren Ramirez
IKE
I Ronni Kappos
LB Valentine
Nathalie Uhl
Jane D'Arensbourg
Moritz Glik
Janet Fraile
Margarette
Andrea Corson
Farrah Dragon
Vanessa Robert
Subversive
Tam Tran
Sarah McGuire
Max Stern
Aesa
Gretchen Julius
Hannah Clark

Shop Independent-the 3/50 project

2009-07-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

This is on the wall: Jack Sears

2009-07-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

The work of Jack Sears is on view at auto. until the end of the summer. Please call 212.229.2292 or email for inquiries.

ARTIST STATEMENT
Jack Sears is an artist, poet and teacher born in Poughkeepsie, NY, now living in Brooklyn. He explores what he calls the Inbetween: those realities that remain constantly between here and there, before and after, those metaphoric images that remain illusively held between the metaphor and the absence thereof, and those images living within his own state of Negative Capability. As Keats describes it, “Negative Capability…is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason…”

In his text based work Jack builds landscapes upon the space between lines and letters defining the Inbetween. His collages confront the creation of a more abstract reality that is in flux and therefore always Inbetween.

Just add color.

2009-07-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

Something tells us that we all need some color to to elevate the way we feel. Can you find happiness in a picture frame? It's a tall order but we think so.

Bussolari
Founded in 1939, Bussolari is the master of high quality picture and photo frames. The Frida, is a high gloss, lacquered wood frame uniquely styled in individual bold colors with an unmistakable style. Available in black, white, red, green, and yellow. Available in 4x6, and 6x8.

Go to thisisauto.com

Edie: Shop Dog

2009-07-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Introducing Edie, our top shop dog. She is a two year old Wirehaired Vizsla named after all of the famous Edie's of the world...Edith Piaf, Edie Sedgewick, Edie Falco, E(y)die Gorme. Her hours are monday thru friday from 4 till closing. Weekends are reserved for stick retrieving, ball chasing, and early morning runs through Central Park.

2009-07-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

new color for our sign. TOMATO. What do you think?

High Line Postcard Series:Graphic Designers

2009-07-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here is our first foray into making our own products. We asked 10 Graphic Designers to create a postcard inspired by the newly opened High Line Park, which is a reclaimed elevated railway that runs along the west side of Manhattan that has been transformed into New York City's finest public space.

Designers: Alan Dye, Chris Malec, Felix Estrada, Hans Seeger, Laura Forde, Michael Ian Kaye, The Monochromats, Roman Marko Luba, Stilleto, Svenja Knöedler

Price: $10
Available at thisisauto.com

Hello, this is auto.

2009-07-23T11:53:00.001-07:00

Hello, this is auto., a design store located in New York City!

Who we are.

2008-11-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

Welcome to thisisauto, the online blog of auto. and thisisauto.com. auto.is a "mini department" store located in New York City's Meatpacking District and owned by husband and wife Renata Bokalo and Roman Luba. Opened in 1999, auto. is a lifestyle store curating collections for the modern home and person. The ever evolving mix of merchandise includes fashion accessories,jewelry, baby/kids, bedding, furniture, books, art and gifts. Critically acclaimed by designers, editors, and most importantly by loyal design-savvy customers, auto. is the place to get something perfect for just about everyone.