<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"FacebookPinterest\n\nAmong die-hard fans, NYC's UNIS store is a temple to the best-fitting pants a guy can buy. The brand's only retail shop, until the opening of an L.A. outpost last year, has been a fixture on Elizabeth Street in NoLita for over a decade and recently designer Eunice Lee wrapped up an extensive remodel and expansion of the flagship. The result is a sleek, slightly minimalist white space - designed by Makr Carry Goods founder Jason Gregory - that shows off Lee's finely-crafted trousers and sportswear as well as a carefully curated selection of accessories, magazines and now grooming gear. We caught up with the designer at the UNIS reopening during men's market week to get the low down on how the renovation came to be and why her apartment no longer has to double as a stock room.\n\nGQ: So how long did the renovation and expansion take? Were you planning it for a long time?\n\n Eunice Lee: Well, the whole project was sort of forced. The new space was actually an apartment that was located behind the store. My landlord's original goal was to expand it and divide the space into two storefronts. I've been here for so long and this storefront means so much to me that after I opened the L.A. store I was like \"fuck it, I'm going to ask him for the entire space.\" It almost didn't matter what price he said, I would've had to pay for it.\n\nGQ: Well you got it. How did you approach the design of the store to work with the existing space?\n\n Lee: Once the decision was made, Jason (Gregory, of Makr) was like, \"I'll help you with the New York store.\" It's just a lot of amazing people have come out of the woodwork to help a small brand like mine. Literally I would not have been able to open the store without him and many other people. It was hard because we would be open for business one day then closed the next. Or we would have to be closed until three-o'clock - it was on and off like that for three-and-a-half weeks.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: What's been the most advantageous thing about having the extra space?\n\n Lee: Having such a small company, some of the challenges are keeping track of inventory. It's not like we have a warehouse or anything. Some of it was in my apartment, some was in L.A., some was in the store, and some was in the factory. So it was really important to combine the office and the store and have the inventory in one place. The office has been in my apartment for the last 11 years.\n\nGQ: How fun for you.\n\n Lee: Amazing! I don't even know what to do with the space and myself actually, it feels a little weird. There's a sense of privacy I have that I haven't for the last eleven years.\n\nFacebookPinterestUNIS remodel combined.jpg\n\nGQ: The aesthetic now is a bit more minimal than the previous space. How do you think the aesthetic has changed?\n\n Lee: I think working on the L.A. store was really the turning point of the aesthetics, how we evolved the look. It was everything I wanted to do for the brand but could never afford to do, and we did it there. Once we took a step back and said that's what the brand should look like we just transferred a lot of that to this store. So it's a mirror image but tailored to this space.\n\nGQ: What's been the best thing about having so much more space?\n\n Lee: Well this is huge because now the store is designed to carry more product. Whereas before it was a couple racks and a few tables, now we have something that's more practical. Stock and display pieces are out front, not in the back. There's space for us to able to have grooming products and places where we designed to house other products. Instead of, you know, Common Projects sitting on the floor there's a shelf for them. So those things are really important.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: This was clearly a big undertaking but are there any next steps for the brand you're already thinking about?\n\n Lee: I think right now is what I would love to do is start making samples for press again - because it is really important for the brand - and to start expanding in wholesale. One of the most important things for us is to stock product more quickly. I'm working on having faster turnaround when things sell out so we can get product directly into the customer's hands."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/store-spotlight-unis-new-and-improved>