Pink condition

Vintage collector Mr.Pink reveals his secret sources, celebrity customers and long-standing turf war

By Jessie Pascoe

Metromix
March 28, 2008

• Email
• Print View
• Share
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Google
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • Yahoo
• Add To Favorites
• Add to playlist

Few people can claim their career started over cartoon glasses at fast-food joints. But then again, most people aren’t like Mr. Pink. An avid collector of mid-century glass and kitchenware, Mr. Pink (aka Gerald Nixon) has become known as one of the city’s top purveyors of retro kitchen kitsch, attracting the attention of celebrities, locals and out-of-towners. Who can blame them? As Manhattan’s flea markets become a part of city history and hipster chain stores manufacture cheap imitations (ahem, Urban Outfitters), Mr. Pink’s Chelsea basement store has been selling well-priced mint-condition collections since 2000. No wonder the Japanese love him.

So Pink isn’t really your last name?
My last name is Nixon [laughs].

Is it your favorite color?
No. A lot of stuff in the store was from the ‘50s and [back then] everything for the house was usually pink and turquoise, so it was a play off of that.

How did you get started collecting?
Probably when I was a kid. My mother kind of forced it on us. She would take us to all of those fast-food restaurants and get all of those cartoon glasses. She had four kids, and she wanted all kids to have a whole set when they grew up.  

It must be hard to part with some pieces.
I just sold a lot of my Roseville collection, which I deeply regret.

Do you get a lot of people from Oklahoma?
They come from Oklahoma, Texas and Ohio. They’re like, “Oh my god, I didn’t know those bowls were worth that.” They don’t take into context where they are [and] that I am paying thousands of dollars a month for a basement. In Oklahoma, you can rent a whole store for $300.

How about international visitors?
Oh, yeah. I am really banking on it this year because of the dollar. [We get] a lot of Japanese. I hate to say this, I don’t know if it’s a good thing to say, but I am catering more to Japanese now.

Have you ever gone over to Japan?
I never have. I actually have been on some television shows in Japan. I am in a lot of books and magazines in Japan. I have [also] been on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and German national television, which apparently is huge.

You must get a lot of outlandish customers.
Oh, yes. I am dealing with one now. We [also] get celebrities like Susan Sarandon and Sarah Jessica Parker.

What did they buy?
I really can’t tell you. You’d be shocked, actually.

Any turf wars?
We have a little turf war with another store that’s on 18th Street. They’ve been [selling] for 20 years and they just can’t believe I am still open.

Can you reveal your secret sources?
I go up to Springfield, Ohio. I go up to Allentown, Pennsylvania. And I do a lot upstate by Buffalo and Rochester.

Do you have any advice for beginning collectors?
Condition, condition, condition. Don’t buy anything that’s chipped or damaged or faded. And just get out there really early with a flashlight. They won’t be the only ones out there.


Photo courtesy of Mr. Pink