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Technically, Excel is both a gallery and custom-framing business. Framing, however, is its true expertise. The pint-size store is so stuffed to the gills with merchandise that it can be difficult to navigate; the workshop toward the back is occasionally so cluttered that staffers have to jump over the counter to point something out to a customer. But all the traffic is a testament to Excel’s popularity with artists and art lovers from both the East Village area and around the city. Customers can expect to shell out something in the low three figures to have their print matted and mounted in the frame of their choice; a limitless selection of frames runs the gamut from rugged, distressed wood to baroque gilds. The shop also sells fully framed mirrors and will reframe old mirrors. — Alex Littlefield