Cosmo Modern

Kinder, gentler vintage modern.... For generations, the Gorlick family operated a furniture manufacturing business in a block-long building on Wythe Street in Williamsburg. When the last Gorlick, Jeffrey, finally closed the factory, he decided he would rent to furniture retailers. Years later, he still hasn't sold his building to the circling condo developers, and so we are blessed with the Williamsburg furniture gantlet, which includes Cosmo's, Two Jakes, Modest Interiors, and motherload@small handsome all on the single block. Cosmo's is perhaps the most ecclectic of the foursome, specializing in anything contemporary that suits the fancy of Cosmo and his partner Lisa Purdon. The big room is crammed with sofas, desks, mirrors, and tables of all sizes, shapes and colors. Prices range from the low hundreds to the mid-thousands, and if you are not put off by the loose change still buried in the cushions of some of their sofas, you may find a good deal on an original design. Cosmo and Purdon have been in the business for years, and can talk Italian design and mid-century modern arcana if necessary, but the store's vibe is far more informal than dogmatic.