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| It's all felt |
After checking in, we transcended to the second floor and at the end of a hallway we saw a supermarket, but it wasn't a supermarket. It was Sparrow Mart, a pop-up art installation with everything inside being felt. Felt sushi to felt Cheerios, this place has it all like in some sort of dream sequence out of a Muppet movie.Sparrow Mart Supermarket
Wed, Aug 1, 2018, 11:00 AM –
Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 9:00 PM PDT
*Not open on Mondays
The Standard, Downtown LA
550 South Flower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Free to visit, must register for timed entry
It launched the night before we came. Shepard Fairey, was the DJ and from what the staff said it was a pretty great time.
After talking to the "sushi chef"; they will make a specialized box of sushi for you that comes with felt chop sticks and a little felt soy sauce packet, he told me to talk to the creator who was in the middle aisle, working on her many food felt items.
British artist Lucy Sparrow is still in the market she created, making more items to stock the shelves with her small team of helpers. She told me that she doesn't make every item in the store her self, but she does paint each of them. And if you see the number of fake felt items...you"ll think that's a lot. Lucy couldn't stop for very long as she dashed around looking to make more products.
One of her staff was cutting up what looked like felt receipts when we wandered past the the VHS section. More movies are to come, but when we were there, they only had Ghostbusters and Jaws in stock. Lucy's gonna have to make more.
What's so grand about Sparrow Mart is that it looks so like a real market. We suggest not going hungry, as we did. We wanted to get dinner right after we came. This place looks exactly like a real super market without the ability to eat anything in it.
We saw so many labels and designs in felt form it made us laugh and shout out loud name brand products that are easy to find like nostalgic memories. Example:"Oh, look, Coke!" or, "Is that Hostess Cupcakes!" Every corner of the store has something you"ll want to be snacking on in real life later.
We did notice some discrepancies as some of the products look to be from England. So you"ll find some regional items you've never heard of or the branding might be a bit different.
If you're wondering, yes there's a deli/butcher, seafood section, a liquor section right as you enter, fruits and veggies and even a hot dog cart. Then you have three aisles of products of almost everything you might find in a real super market. It is a bit surreal and the group we were with did love it. You can use a shopping cart or shopping basket just like a real market.
In back of the market there's a small gallery to look at some framed work that you should check out too. So many colorful cans of soda!
You can buy everything in the store, though it's not cheap. The lowest priced item we saw was a felt piece of bubble gum for $5. On average it looked like prices on most items start at $45 and up. When we were there, not everything had prices listed yet. There's a check out counter just like a real market and that's where the keep the felt cigarettes.
We saw a felt broom and we truly wished for someone to leave a ball of string on the ground on an aisle as felt throw-up. We suggest our readers bring some to take that photo. Send it to us and we"ll post it on the site.
The Happytime Murders happen later this month, it's a dark comedy with puppets set in LA. Here's hoping some sort of deal can be arranged for a marketing stunt at Sparrow Mart. Have some dead puppet hidden somewhere or a chalk outline in felt for the film at the mart.
Enjoy it as it"ll only be around this month, but it's open every day, but Monday during the week and doesn't close until 9pm weekly.
