Local Love: Mr. Throwback
The coolest store in New York City is a tiny nostalgia-inducing shop tucked into a quiet street in the East Village.
Four years ago Mike Spitz was spending weekends haggling with customers over the prices of old basketball jerseys at his Hell’s Kitchen flea market pop-up shop. He had very little money to his name and barely any idea what he’d be doing with his career.
“Come a long way since then,” he said on a recent humid June afternoon. He was standing on East 9th Street outside Mr. Throwback, the vintage store which he’s the proprietor of, sporting his usual ensemble: blue Knicks shorts and a black Space Jam jersey with the word MONSTARS printed across the front. “I’m a huge Space Jam fan,” Spitz said as sweat dripped down his bearded face and the smell of marijuana permeated the air. “I’m trying to get every jersey from the movie.”
Spitz discovered the empty closet-sized storefront in the winter of 2013. He emptied his bank account to pay down the initial deposit. Now, just three years later, he’s transformed himself into one of the most successful vintage brands in the world. He’s done collaborations with Starter, SLAM Magazine and WWE. He has nearly 72,000 followers on Instagram. Rappers, NBA players and tourists flock to his store, which resembles an exhibit you’d see in a museum more than anything you’d pass in a mall.
On this afternoon the walls were lined with racks of jerseys, t-shirts and Starter Jackets. There were baseball hats in plastic bins and basketball sneakers on wooden shelves. Power Rangers and Beavis and Butthead towels were pinned to the ceiling. In a corner rested a stack of VHS tapes (Austin Powers, Ace Ventura and Home Alone 2) while Space Jam played on a tiny white RCA TV. Every inch of the store was covered. Out front was a miniature basketball hoop and a rack of jerseys going for $30 a piece.
“It’s supposed to feel like your childhood bedroom,” Spitz, 33, said. He has a Long Island accent and speaks with the speed of someone perpetually afraid he’s about to be cut off. “Every kid back in the ’90s collected jerseys, but also things like Pogs and Starting Lineup toys. Mr. Throwback is about bringing that childhood back to life.”
It was around five in the afternoon and the store was starting to get busy. Spitz asked every customer if they were searching for something specific. Many were there just for the nostalgia. A pair of French tourists walked in and said they had read about Mr. Throwback in their travel guide. “Every Monday I get a ton of people with that same purple book,” Spitz said. “It’s great, but they rarely buy.”
A few minutes later a man in his early twenties wearing a dress shirt and tie wanted to know if Spitz had any Dallas Mavericks Steve Nash jerseys. Nash last played for Dallas in 2004. Spitz apologized. “Those are incredibly rare,” he said. Later on a young woman with streaks of purple in her hair and a nose ring pulled a Latrell Sprewell Knicks jersey off a rack. Spitz sold it to her for $60.
“The jerseys on the street caught my eye,” she said, explaining why she walked in.
Spitz amasses his stock from all over the country in all sorts of ways. Sometimes customers sell him gear, either in person or via e-mail and social media. He’s also always on the the prowl for flea markets and garage sales. He travels north to Connecticut every month, and has gone as far as Texas in search of rare items.
“I can’t give you names of places, though,” he said. “I don’t want to give away information.”
An avid collector himself, his greatest dilemma is often whether to sell the products he purchases or add them to his personal collection.
“Some shit I don’t want to sell,” he said. “Some stuff I buy and I want to wear it and for people to see it and come up to me and say, ‘That shit’s dope, where’d you get it?’ and I give them my business card and bam, there’s another customer.”
Asked for a recent example, he replies unhesitatingly. “You should see my closet at home. I just got an original 1995 Glenn Robinson Rookie Game jersey. So dope.”
