Pawn Shop Article

[CrzyC1414779017]

Miami club mines glam from downtown's grit

BY MADELEINE MARR

mmarr@herald.com

Downtown Miami just gets edgier by the millisecond.

It's got no Art Deco hipster hotels, no Ocean Drive, no pounding surf to speak of. But it's got one thing SoBe doesn't -- grit.

And that's precisely what Kurt VanNostrand, former general manager of B.E.D., is pinning his hopes on. With his new nightclub, Pawn Shop, housed in -- you guessed it, an old pawn shop -- downtown visitors will get to see how the other side of the causeway lives and, more importantly, parties.

On the outside -- Pawn Shop, in the shadow of the chug-chugging-along Performing Arts Center -- not much has changed. Scratch that. Nothing has changed. The original screaming yellow-and-red facade of the 1938 pawn shop remains; they even retained the exterior signs reading ''WE BUY DIAMONDS'' and ''WE BUY GOLD.'' (You want grit? Rumor has it the former owners would sell anything, ''including a severed head that still had its gold teeth in it,'' according to a club press release.)

Visitors enter through a surreptitious side door. ''We were going for a New York underground, speakeasy feel,'' says VanNostrand, 36. No special knock or code, though; your hip-hugging Sevens should get you in. At least that was the unofficial dress code for visitors to the soft opening party last weekend. Many likely had never seen the inside of a pawn shop in their 20- to 30-something years on earth.

They still hadn't, really.

Aside from two steel vaults -- one's now a purse/coat check; the other a wine cellar -- the interior is ''Andy Warhol meets SoHo loft meets period-modern meets . . .'' VanNostrand trails off. Even the creator himself may believe Pawn Shop defies description.

Although he is anything but laconic.

``I'll go on and on about this place if you let me.''

Understandable. The D.C.-born VanNostrand has a lot to crow about besides Pawn Shop. His other baby, Mila Elle, just turned 5 months old.

But when VanNostrand talks, it'd be a good idea to listen. His résumé includes stints with hotel big shots Andre Balazs (the Mercer, N.Y.) and Ian Schrager (the Mondrian, L.A.).

He also spent time in Europe, absorbing the nightlife circuit when he worked as a model in the late '80s.

VanNostrand's first club venture on his own can be best described as a hodgepodge of eclecticism, a reference to myriad eras -- from the 1960s Get Smart type phone booth to 1970s Wacky Packs affixed to bunk beds ''on loan from Greg Brady,'' he cracks. 'We have a lot of conversation pieces. I want people to go, `Wow, I remember that.' ''

Dance if you must -- the tunes are a customized nostalgic house-y blend -- but the real entertainment is right where you sit.

''We want people to feel comfortable here,'' says VanNostrand. ``Everything's a conversation piece, everything's interactive.''

Indeed, on a recent visit, there was some definite interaction. Minglers were layering themselves ''mile-high-style'' on resurrected Boeing 727 seats, snapping pics in the vintage photo booth (works for $5) and playing doctor on scary Marathon Man-style dentist chairs.

More of a museum with music, Pawn Shop can really rock your brain. Especially if you were born before 1970. Perhaps you'll recall getting your lunch money ripped off in the yellow 1977 Blue Bird school bus that divides the cabaret from the bar area. The seats were yanked out and booths set up in their place; waiters in sexy mechanic uniforms attend to those lucky few who can cram inside.

Or perhaps you'd find more comfort in the 1950s Airstream trailer gutted and decorated in what VanNostrand calls ''white-trash cool'' -- lime vinyl seats, crimson shag carpet, lava lamps and John Deere pillows.

At the opening, some partyers in the Airstream looked positively bewildered. ''What is this? Does it have wheels?'' asked one. ''I don't get this place,'' giggled another.

That's the point, VanNostrand says. That there is no point.

''Everything goes together, but doesn't,'' he says. ``It's not decor, it's about using everyday, nontypical items for the purposes of design. It's living art.''

[Guest pod]

Welcome aboard to Pawn Shop, too...

http://www.cooljunkie.com/miami/pawn_shop_venue_pawn_shop_miami_12854.html

[Guest klit]

I can't wait for the stills performance on the 17th. Definately heading to that, but anyone know if there will be advance tickets for it.

Tonight if going clubbing will be there for sure.

[Guest nickjunkie]

I can't wait for the stills performance on the 17th. Definately heading to that, but anyone know if there will be advance tickets for it.

Tonight if going clubbing will be there for sure.

Good choice. Not sure about tix but there's a reduced list for it on CoolJunkie... 8)

[Guest Justin Johnson]

Presale for The Stills:

Presale tickets available online HERE!

[Guest Justin Johnson]

OK, I'm a dumbass. That link didn't work.

just go to www.clubrevolver.com and they have the online sales link there.

[Guest macboy]

And that's precisely what Kurt VanNostrand, former general manager of B.E.D., is pinning his hopes on. With his new nightclub, Pawn Shop, housed in -- you guessed it, an old pawn shop -- downtown visitors will get to see how the other side of the causeway lives and, more importantly, parties.

Any relation to Dr. Martin VanNostrand?

[ryan2772]

And that's precisely what Kurt VanNostrand, former general manager of B.E.D., is pinning his hopes on. With his new nightclub, Pawn Shop, housed in -- you guessed it, an old pawn shop -- downtown visitors will get to see how the other side of the causeway lives and, more importantly, parties.

Any relation to Dr. Martin VanNostrand?

hahahahahaha

that's fuckin great, dude ;D

[Guest JMT]

And that's precisely what Kurt VanNostrand, former general manager of B.E.D., is pinning his hopes on. With his new nightclub, Pawn Shop, housed in -- you guessed it, an old pawn shop -- downtown visitors will get to see how the other side of the causeway lives and, more importantly, parties.

Any relation to Dr. Martin VanNostrand?

HAHAHAHAHA