LOWER EAST SIDE - Publishing house Badlands Unlimited recently moved from Sunset Park to the Lower East Side.
Before putting up pictures on the white walls of the office space at 24 Rutgers St., the publishing company formed a partnership with a 99-cent store below its offices to sell books.
"The [building] owner has a relationship with the 99-cents store and we just wanted to have a relationship too as part of this community," said Micaela Durand who is a director at the publishing house founded by Paul Chan in 2010.
Rather than creating a pop-up shop or throwing a launch party, the employees at Badlands decided to honor the store they had visited time and again while setting up their office and not disturb the neighborhood they had just joined, Durand said.
According to an announcement on Badlands' website, the store owned by Mr. and Mrs. Yu serves as the publishing house's new flagship store, even though its titles occupy one shelf. Books on sale include an erotic novella series, "New Lovers," as well as "Poems" by Yvonne Rainer and "Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews."
Y.P. 99 Cents and Up had already sold some copies before the announcement of the partnership, Durand said.
Meanwhile, the rest of the store remains unchanged, full of basic items — such as toilet paper — for customers.
"The emphasis for us is that you can buy all the things you need in one store," Durand said.
