You Like It? You Take It!

Without moaning about the economy, let's just say it's been a long time since I've been shopping. Seriously — don't you wish there was a store where everything is free?

You probably hadn't even thought of that. It's too outrageous. It's crazy. It's practically art — at least that's what Athena Robles and Anna Stein thought!

Robles and Stein teamed up to open The Free Store in New York City on Feb. 19 to what at first was a trickle of artists, but quickly became cameras, reporters and a lot of scavenging New Yorkers. The Financial District location (99 Nassau St.) is walkable to both Ground Zero and Wall Street — both areas in dire need of this sort of thing. Exhibition hours are Thu. to Sat. 12-7 p.m.; Sun. 12-5 p.m. and by appointment. That's right. Exhibition hours. The Free Store is like a gallery, or at least like the world's most awesome gift shop.

I had a chance to talk with Robles and Stein, who said that the store took about a year-and-a-half to get on its feet. "The recession was actually kind of a good thing for us," said Robles.

The policy of The Free Store is: "If you find something you like and you think you need it, feel free to take it."

"It's free for us," says Robles, "people come in with huge bags of stuff [to donate]." At first they were worried they might run out of free items, but it turns out people are likely to give as much — if not more than they take. I'm reminded of the movie Clerks — in this one part, Dante (the clerk) is cuddling on the floor behind the counter with his girlfriend, and they just leave change on the counter. "Theoretically, people see money on the counter, no one around? They think they're being watched," said Dante.

Are you being watched at the Free Store? Sort of. They track all the items that come in, and they write up receipts for any items you take. When the floods of New Yorkers entered the store at noon on Friday, I was there. They kept announcing "Please remember to check out!" over the din of closely-packed strangers.

A note to kleptos — if you steal from the Free Store, you don't just have a problem, you're also kind of a jerk.

So, how do they make money? They don't. The Free Store was made possible by a $9,000 grant from Grants for Arts in Public Spaces. The exhibition closes March 22, and will be followed by a showing of photographs and videos, which will talk about the experience and who participated. For bringing a terrific idea to Lower Manhattan, which strengthened our belief that people want to give, not just take, we've made Athena Robles and Anna Stein our newest Tonic Heroes!

Pictured here is the item I picked up there. It's a framed photograph of people ice skating in Central Park. Where I'm from in Minnesota, I can see ice skaters out my bedroom window in the wintertime, so this felt like home to me. And above? My free receipt!