Love Shine

Profile

This venue is closed.

The Day-Glo plastic flowers, portraits of the Virgin Mary, and storefront lawn chairs at Mark Seamon's novelty shop seem like the ideal setting for a religious grandmother to tend her yard sale. But it's Seamon who has manned the counter since opening the business in 1997, originally as a place to hock his own handmade bags and totes. Through frequent travels to Mexico, the entrepreneur’s fascination with the culture eventually spilled into his tiny, off-the-beaten-path boutique, and the souvenirs of Old World Mexican kitsch that he collected along the way became one of his main caches of merchandise. His house-brand canvas, mesh, and oil cloth bags with bold, graphic prints are still for sale, but are somewhat overshadowed by an army of El Dia de los Muertos skeleton-faced dancing figurines, sacred heart-topped wooden jewelry boxes, and a random selection of mostly American pop culture coffee table books. A heap of colorfully fierce, authentic Mexican wrestling masks have attracted something of a cult following at both the East Village location and the younger, more spacious Brooklyn store. — Molly Noonan