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Tom Blackie and Henri Myers are co-founders of Maison 10, a concept store that changes every 10 weeks, and where 10% of every sale is donated to one of ten charities. They got married in 2014 and live in Hell’s Kitchen.
Hell’s Kitchen is our middle ground
With family and business in Seattle, Los Angeles, London, and Edinburgh, New York was the perfect in-between location. Plus, Henri is from here originally, and Tom had always wanted to live in the Big Apple, so we found HK as the perfect spot.
But this is kind of sucky
The worst part of living here would be being so close to Times Square, although the constant flow of tourists is really everywhere in the city. But other than lots of curious people, HK is pretty great all round.
The reason we stay
Being quite active, we love being so close to the Hudson River and Central Park for nature jaunts. We’re also avid Citi Bike users. We bike daily to and from Maison 10, our concept store/art gallery/event space in the heart of NoMad.
We’d always talked about opening a little shop
We wanted to incorporate all the things we love – art, flowers, and really cool lifestyle items – and considered London as a location. But we changed plans and moved to NYC instead. And when the opportunity came up to create a retail space here in the city, we jumped on it.
Our third partner, Carsten Klein, is based in Amsterdam.
Looking back at 2018
It was an action-packed year for us, with some trials and tribulations along the way, but we’ve come out healthy and wiser for them. We relocated to a 5,000 sq ft loft-style space on 5th Ave, and the new venue has allowed us to feature 10 amazing artists every 10 weeks and support a wide range of events.
And looking forward
We’re super excited and don’t want to put too much out there to spoil the fun, but we’re working on some major projects and hope this year will be the year we take Maison 10 to a new level.
Resolutions for 2019?
Just to continue to live life, love each other, friends and family, and have a bit of fun and travel along the way.
If our apartment was on fire …
It’s a horrible thing to think about, but if we had to save one thing, it’d grab our hard drive. Henri is a huge music buff and it’s got all of his records, CDs and bootlegs on there. He could never do without it.
Our HK tribe?
For now, it’s just Tom and Henri. We’re each other’s ride-or-die.
Our go-to places in the neighborhood
Some of our favorites are Posh Bar – you can’t go wrong there for cheap drinks, no attitude, and lots of booty shaking. We love Totto Ramen (the one on W51st St – ask for Tata), and Mexican food and over-the-top mamaritas at Arriba Arriba.
Our HK happy place
Everywhere!
TOM AND HENRI’S HK
Posh, W51st St – 9th/10th Ave
Totto Ramen, W51st St – 9th/10th Ave
Arriba Arriba, 9th Ave – 51st St
A version of this interview first appeared in the January 2019 issue of W42ST magazine. Stay in touch – and be the first to read stories like this – when you join our daily newsletter at w42st.com
