CORONA — The owner of popular shops around the borough is taking over the gift shop at the Queens Museum, and will stock it with merchandise that celebrates Queens.
Mackenzi Farquer, the owner of Lockwood in Astoria and Jackson Heights, will take over the window-lined space near the entrance to the museum — filling it with unique items from local artisans and designers.
Lockwood Queens Museum's opening coincides with the venue's Queens International, a biannual exhibit that this year includes a retrospective on The Ramones.
"Our mission will be to be inspired by the exhibitions," Farquer said.
There will be Ramones T-shirts, vinyl records and books about the band and New York's punk scene, she said.
She'll also line the shelves with special merchandise inspired by the World's Fairs, working with designers on mugs and clothing.
The shop at the Queens Museum will be taken over by Lockwood. (DNAinfo/Katie Honan)
The shop will go beyond what is usually considered "museum shop," Farquer said. She's working with designers on a tote bag highlighting Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, for example.
"Everyone should be really proud of everything that's happening in that park and has been happening for so long," she said.
"I want to honor that tradition and everyone who's been a part of it."
The opening in the museum honors the shop's mission to provide a space that celebrates Queens, and also introduces a new audience, according to David Strauss, the deputy director of the museum.
"Lockwood has established this wonderful dedication to Queens," he said.
"That's what Mackenzi's built her entire business on — finding things that are somewhat whimsical, somewhat poignant, and ... high quality."
The store will open April 10, which is the opening of the new spring exhibit, the first under the museum's new director, Laura Raicovich, Strauss said.
"April 10 marks a new era in the Queens Museum's unfolding story," he said.
