The Brooklyn-based specialty store has created a location that blends a listening room, wine bar and outdoor garden with an eclectic men's offering.

Building a “community” has become the latest catchphrase in retail as merchants strive to move beyond just selling a bunch of products and work to build lasting relationships with their target customers.

While nearly everyone is jumping on this bandwagon, there are a few stores that appear to have nailed it. Million Goods is one of them.

The Brooklyn-based retailer founded by Drew Kaufmann and Matt Reyer opened a small storefront in Greenpoint in 2024 that offered a wine bar, music and an assortment of under-the-radar men’s brands.

The reaction was strong enough to prompt Million Goods to open a second, larger location in Fort Greene. The new 2,100-square-foot flagship in a landmarked building at 201 DeKalb Avenue replicates the concept of the first store, just on a larger scale.

Kaufmann, whose background includes Maison Kitsune and Bird Brooklyn, started brainstorming about creating a business that blended fashion and hospitality before the pandemic. “I saw every season that e-commerce companies like Ssense and Net-a-porter were taking a bigger bite of the business while independent stores struggled,” he said.

He said he had “always preferred curated, off-the-beaten-path independents,” and knew that online retailers could never offer the same experience as a physical store — something he believed could offer a “competitive advantage. Hospitality is something tech companies can’t do,” Kaufmann said.

He saw that listening bars had become popular in Japan and also identified a trend toward natural wines.

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