A Short Film Mini-Series Focusing on Interesting Retail Spaces
This is STO, a short film mini-series focused on unique and interesting interior spaces, usually retail stores. Sto is short for “store.” Come back each month and watch a brand new exciting and thrilling episode.
Brief documentary films. Movie trailers for retail stores. One and a half minute T.V. commercials. They are places to be treasured and frequented. Places with some pizazz. Spaces with a soul. Open your eyes and see them below.
Sto 20: Brookline News & Gift
Brookline News & Gift is located in the located in the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline, Massachusetts at 313 Harvard Avenue. A wonderland of (unintentionally) vintage greeting cards, pipe tobacco, toys, and pornography. I'll be doing all my Christmas shopping there this year.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Shashikant Patel.
Filmed on January 13, 2016. Premiered on December 7, 2016.
Sto 19: Deep Thoughts Cambridge
Deep Thoughts was located at 89 Norfolk Street. in Cambridge, Massachusetts in a quiet residential neighborhood. They’re a record store specializing in new, used, rare, and limited psych, indie, noise, punk, and much, much more. Episode three of STO focused on Deep Thoughts' sister (and original) location in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Nick Williams of Deep Thoughts.
Filmed on January 12, 2016. Premiered on March 9, 2017.
Sto 18: Nuggets
Nuggets is located in the Back Bay of Boston, Massachusetts at 486 Commonwealth Avenue. Nuggets buys, sells & tradesrecords, compact discs, videos, and cassettes. They have tens of thousands of rare and out of print items and even a framed commemorative hanging by Wham!
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Stu Freedman.
Filmed on June 26, 2015. Premiered on November 1, 2016.
Sto 17: Exotic Planterium
The Exotic Planterium / Card & Comic Collectorama / DEWco was located at 2008 Mount Vernon Ave. in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia. The dual-moniker shop specializes in both exotic plants and comic books and also a wide variety of in-between. The Exotic Planterium was the inspiration behind the STO film series. Owner Dennis E. Webb passed away in April of 2018 and the store closed for good.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Dennis Webb and DEWCO.
Filmed on June 22, 2015. Premiered on October 4, 2016.
Sto 16: Public Shoe Store
Public Shoe Store was located at 3137 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia. They had been offering shoes for the entire family since 1938. Public Shoe Store specialized in professional fittings for wide and hurting feet.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Dr. S.H. Friedman.
Filmed on June 20, 2015. Premiered on September 6, 2016.
Sto 15: In Your Ear
In Your Ear is located at 957 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, Massachusetts. 35 years and counting. Long after dinosaurs and monolithic corporate music store chains collapsed under their own weight, the little store that could is still alive and well.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Reed Lippin and Nick Blakey.
Filmed on June 17, 2015. Premiered on June 7, 2016.
Sto 14: Bartevian, Inc.
Bartevian, Inc. is located at 160 Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts. They offer gifts, jewelry and interior accessories. Krikor "George Bartevian" Bartev started the business in 1910 and his daughter, Pat, now keeps store. She co-founded the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Pat Bartevian.
Filmed on June 11, 2015. Premiered on May 3, 2016.
Sto 13: What Cheer?
What Cheer? is located on the upper floor of 180 Angell Street on the East Side and in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. They sell vinyl records, antiques and vintage stuff. They’ve been at this since the late-1990s and have accumulated a vast
assortment of interesting old things over all those years.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Chris and Jennifer Daltry.
Filmed on May 23, 2015. Premiered on April 5, 2016.
Sto 12: Parts and Crafts
Parts and Crafts is located in a former storefront in Somerville, Massachusetts at 577 Somerville Avenue. The Parts and Crafts Collective is a group of thinkers, teachers, and tinkerers in the Boston area who are interested in helping people build, think, create, succeed, fail, and learn. They run hands-on creative arts, science, and engineering programs for kids and adults to help people learn and do and make things.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Katie Gradowski and Will Macfarlane.
Filmed on September 10, 2014. Premiered on January 19, 2015.
Sto 11: Balich 5 & 10
Balich 5 & 10 is located in the Arlington Heights neighborhood of Arlington, Massachusetts at 1314 Massachusetts Avenue. Balich is a traditional American five and dime store which opened in 1954. The store is virtually unchanged since then. A variety of sewing supplies, toys, candy, and everything else you’d ever need is available at Balich.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Joe Balich.
Filmed on August 29, 2014. Premiered on January 12, 2015.
Sto 10: Brattle Book Shop
Brattle Book Shop is located in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston, Massachusetts at 9 West Street and was originally located on Cornhill between Scollay Square and Adams Square. It is one of America's oldest and largest used book shops. The Brattle features two floors of general used books, a third floor of rare & antiquarian books and an outside sale lot.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to the the obliging staff of Brattle Book Shop.
Filmed on August 29, 2014. Premiered on December 22, 2014.
Sto 9: Super 99¢ Plus & Shoes
Super 99¢ Plus & Shoes is located in Chinatown, Boston, Massachusetts at 693 Washington Street inside of My-Tan Fashion. They carry a wide variety of gifts and household appliances for a reasonable price.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to the kind staff of Super 99¢ Plus & Shoes and My-Tan Fashion.
Filmed on August 21, 2014. Premiered on December 15, 2014.
Sto 8: Irving’s Toy & Card Shop
Irving’s Toy & Card Shop is located in Brookline, Massachusetts at 371 Harvard Street. Irving’s offers a selection of toys, vintage greeting cards, and sage advice. The store has been open since 1939 and owner and co-founder Ethel Weiss has worked there since then. (Her husband Irving Kravetz passed away in 1960). This film was shot nine days before Ethel’s 100th birthday.
UPDATE: Ethel passed away on December 10th, 2015 at the age of 101.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Ethel Weiss.
Filmed on August 14, 2014. Premiered on December 8, 2014.
Sto 7: Broadway Bicycle School
Broadway Bicycle School is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 351 Broadway. They are a worker-owned and collectively run bicycle shop. They specialize in expert bicycle repairs, bicycle sales, and new/used parts sales. Broadway Bicycle School also offers stand rental with and without teaching and run classes on basic bicycle repair and wheelbuilding at night.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to David Way.
Door 3 Gallery art by Laura Quincy Jones.
Filmed on August 13, 2014. Premiered on December 1, 2014.
WARNING: Strobe lights are featured during this motion picture.
Sto 6: Lorem Ipsum Books
Lorem Ipsum Books was located in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 1299 Cambridge Street. This was filmed just a couple of months before the store closed at the end of October, 2014. I didn't know it would close when I shot it. A real, live bookstore in the heart of Inman Square. Innovating bookstores since 2003. I believe in bookstores.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Skye Aaron, Peter Loftus, Matt Mankins, and Grace Woo of Lorem Ipsum.
Filmed on August 11, 2014. Premiered on November 24, 2014.
Sto 5: Giroflé
Giroflé was located in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 1052 Cambridge Street. This was filmed just two weeks before the store closed at the end of August, 2014. Giroflé was a gift shop that specialized in religious christian icons and other assorted gems.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Fernando Pereira Rodrigues de Sousa of Girofllé, Inc.
Filmed on August 8, 2014. Premiered on November 17, 2014.
Sto 4: Cambridge Typewriter
Cambridge Typewriter is located in Arlington, Massachusetts at 102 Massachusetts Avenue. Whatever your typewrite needs may be, in the Boston area and beyond, Cambridge Typewriter is there to help. From sales to repairs and new to old, they have the experience and passion needed to serve you best.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Tom Furrier of Deep Thoughts.
Filmed on August 8, 2014. Premiered on November 10, 2014.
Sto 3: Deep Thoughts
Deep Thoughts is located in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts at 138-B South Street. They’re a record store specializing in new, used, rare, and limited psych, indie, noise, punk, and much, much more. So many skulls makes this is our Halloween episode.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Nick Williams of Deep Thoughts.
Filmed on August 6, 2014. Premiered on November 3, 2014.
Sto 2: High Energy Vintage
High Energy Vintage was located in Somerville, Massachusetts at 1242 Broadway, near Teele Square. In January of 2016, they moved to 429 Somerville Ave. just outside of Union Square. They specialize in old-school video games, Polaroid cameras, records, vintage clothing/footwear, and general vintage electronica.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Wiley of High Energy Vintage.
Filmed on August 5, 2014. Premiered on October 27, 2014.
Sto 1: Weirdo Records
Weirdo Records was located in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 844 Massachusetts Ave. Whether it’s new and noisy or old and square, the best in screwy music can be found at Weirdo.
Directed, edited, and scored by Mark Robinson.
Thanks to Angela Sawyer of Weirdo Records.
Filmed on May 21 and 29, 2014. Premiered on October 20, 2014.
About the Author:
Mark Robinson spent many moments in his early years studying 30 second television advertisements and radio commercials. At age 10 he asked his mother to take him to the library so he could research retail stores in hopes that he would one day open a record store. A few years later, he founded a record label and even later an a cappella group dedicated to the advertising jingle. He has not (yet) opened a retail store, but STO is his homage to some of his favourites and some of the best.
