Asbury retro furniture store sees big future
Susan Bloom | Correspondent | May 4 2016
“After graduating from Temple University, Toms River native Drew Levinson, 35, enjoyed a successful career editing a variety of high-profile films, music videos, commercials and corporate videos on both coasts.
But in between those jobs, “my wife Danielle and I loved to go on treasure hunts to flea markets and garage sales,” he said, once even taking an extended vacation along a garage sale trail from Michigan to Louisiana. “We went with an empty car and came back with a full car,” Levinson said. “At the time, we were just looking for cool old things that we liked for ourselves – not to sell.”
Of all of the vintage finds available, “I fell in love with mid-century modern furniture,” said Levinson of an interest that started after the owners of the 1950s-era Toms River home the couple purchased in 2009 left all of their original furniture behind. “We kept a lot of it because we loved it, and soon found that the pieces we sold were worth some money,” he said.
“We began looking into the designs of that era – mid-century style has clean, architectural lines that fit perfectly with our aesthetic – and thought how much we’d like to offer others the look of that time mixed with a more modern feel,” Levinson said.
Leap of vintage faith
Together with Danielle, 32, a former lingerie designer for Victoria’s Secret who was ready to give up her long daily commute to New York City, the two rented a space in an antique mall in Red Bank and enjoyed buying and selling their finds, but soon realized they needed more space. “Our house was filling up fast,” Levinson said of the four mid-century couches stationed on their back porch and the nearly two dozen chairs stored in their living room.
Though both nervous to leave their steady jobs, “We were excited to take a chance on doing something for ourselves that we could do together,” he said, and honed in on Asbury Park because “we liked the vibe there and it had a good mix of antique stores, restaurants and other shops; there’s such an excitement and resurgence in the town.”
Leasing a 250-square-foot space in the town’s Shoppes at the Arcade in 2014, “we used our artistic and graphic design skills to design the space and the layout of the merchandise,” to the thrill of many loyal customers, Levinson said. “We actually ended up going through merchandise so quickly that we realized we needed more space,” he said, leading them to move to a larger showroom next door this January and also secure 1,200 square feet of warehouse space to store their pieces.
Within the cozy, 1,000-square-foot space now occupied by Flux Modern – named because “we buy and sell a lot of pieces and our inventory is constantly in flux,” Levinson explained – lovers of vintage items will enjoy a variety of home furnishings and décor as well as lighting fixtures, living room, bedroom and patio furniture, and dining room sets from the 1950s to the 1970s.
“Pieces from this period have a huge following now, driven in large part by the popularity of shows like 'Mad Men,'” Levinson said. “Our customers are everyone from young people looking for stylish, affordable pieces to furnish their first home to collectors in search of iconic pieces by famous mid-century designers like Eames and Bertoia.”
To serve all customers along this spectrum, “we sell home décor items such as vintage cameras and barware for as little as $5 all the way up to a $3,500 Danish teak wall unit,” he said, “though most of our items are in the $300 to $700 range.”
'A real eye'
Denim fashion designer and Jersey City resident Steven Butow first learned of Flux Modern after visiting friends in Asbury Park and has since become a loyal fan.
“We have a house in the Catskills that we decided to decorate in mid-century modern and Drew and Danielle have great taste and a real eye for pieces from that time period,” Butow said. “We’ve already purchased a table, patio set, credenza for the dining room, two clocks and a rug and we hope to get a sofa and other items soon. In addition to having a wonderful selection of mid-century modern pieces, Drew and Danielle are fabulous to work with and even delivered to our home in the Catskills.“
Levinson confirmed that the business can be demanding, particularly the physical challenges of lifting, moving and delivering heavy furniture. “We also have to pay attention to what people are and aren’t buying so that our inventory doesn’t sit,” he said.
But the number of other vintage and antique stores in Asbury Park doesn’t concern him. “I actually love to see a lot of dealers selling this style of product,” he said, “because it makes Asbury Park an antiques destination, particularly for those shoppers coming in from out of town.”
With Drew responsible for the transport of pieces as well as marketing and promotional activities such as their all-important social media presence, Danielle in charge of finding and preparing pieces for sale, one employee helping to staff the shop and other “pickers” who help buy for them along the way, Flux Modern has become a dream come true for its retro-loving owners.
“We love the thrill of the hunt and the fact that brand new things come in every day; it allows us to play with the look and feel of the shop,” shared Levinson, whose customers have included set designers from HBO and other networks.
“We love finding the next cool thing, and selling it is a bonus. We like to think we’re giving these pieces a new life,” he added, “and seeing these pieces in customers’ homes and the way they’ve built them into their lives is really rewarding.”
