Where Obscura Sold Taxidermy, New Boutique Sells Vegan Purses

The nook that housed Obscura Oddities & Antiques just got a new tenant: MINKvixen. No, it isn’t selling taxidermied minks, like it’s ghoulish predecessor might have. In fact, one of its vintage purses is labeled 100-percent vegan.

“It’s just a place you can come and feel good and try on really cute clothes,” said owner Keri Cornachio, explaining the name. “It’s like a little mink vixen – it’s me!”

Before opening the boutique last week, the 27-year-old worked in Union Square for a beauty-and-fashion PR company. “I ended up just really hating it,” she said. “It was just very taxing on your soul, such a grind.” After a couple of years off, she looked into opening a shop in Bushwick, where she lives, but found that commercial rents in the increasingly trendy neighborhood were as expensive as those of the East Village.

“I’d rather be out here and have more foot traffic (and people have more money out here than they do in Bushwick anyway) but it’s still right off the L so I can get back and forth and all my friends out there can get here easily, too,” she said.

Some of those friends emptied their closets to help stock the store. Ms. Cornachio buys other “mid-priced, trendy fashion-forward” items from wholesalers and online, favoring designers like Sparkle & Fade, Free People, and Mink Pink.

The items tend to be “classic with some sort of goth/punk edge, but without being too much for people,” which is in keeping with the shopkeeper’s own style. “I’m either dressed like a grandma or I’m dressed in, like, a pleather miniskirt and six-inch heels,” she said.

Prices (ranging from $4 for marked-down accessories to $130 for some dresses) won’t be as high as at certain other stores in the neighborhood, she said. “On Ninth Street there’s so may consignment shops and everything. Those can be a little pricy so I’m kind of trying to be a little more fair with the pricing. You can get something new at Nordstrom Rack that’s a nicer brand that no one’s ever worn before, so why pay that much money to get something used on Ninth Street?”

Ms. Cornachio may eventually phase out used clothing altogether, and hopes to add a rack of men’s clothing as well. Hours are also in flux, but you should be safe stopping in from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

MINKvixen, 280 East 10th Street (near Avenue A); (212) 260-2750