The audio and furniture brand Symbol has launched its new Manhattan showroom, the Symbol Loft, blending a listening lounge with vintage aesthetics in the Bowery district. Founded in 2012, the company is expanding beyond vinyl storage into living room and workspace furniture. The 3,000-square-foot space aims to foster creative interactions and shift more business toward the trade sector.
The Symbol Loft, a new outpost for the Nyack, New York–based brand Symbol, opened in Manhattan's Bowery, a hub for art and culture. The 3,000-square-foot showroom features high ceilings, exposed brick, and factory windows, evoking an old-school New York artist loft. “We really wanted it to feel like an old-school New York artist loft,” says Walker Tovin, Symbol’s managing director and brand director. “A lot of the color choices came from that world of influences, the 1970s New York City lost party vibe.”
Symbol was founded in 2012 by Blake Tovin, a furniture designer and the company’s creative director, amid a resurgence in vinyl records. Initially focused on vinyl storage and display for a decade, the brand expanded in the early 2020s to include living room and workspace furniture. “We felt that we could put this collection together that didn’t feel out of left field to this audio business, but really was complementary to the lifestyle that we were establishing,” Walker Tovin explains. “All of these pieces [are] very low, very deep, very soft, and really intended for listening and relaxing.” While online sales suited storage items, larger pieces like sofas necessitated a physical space.
Inside, vignettes showcase upholstered seating, coffee tables, and speakers, including collaborations with USM Modular Furniture. Displays feature cabinets, loveseats, sectionals, and media consoles, with a Kvadrat fabric wall offering hundreds of customization options. “The different spaces are all configured around actions,” says Walker Tovin. “You can flip through a bin, pick out a record, and then sit back and really experience the Symbol lifestyle.”
The loft will host listening sessions and events to connect creatives from music, design, art, food, and film. “The brand is inspired by so many different things... Having a physical space gives us the opportunity to reach out and interact with these other areas of inspiration,” Walker Tovin notes. This opening marks a shift, with about 60 percent of business now from the trade. “It’s really a stepping stone into becoming a larger company with a larger offering,” he adds. “We’ve benefited from being online for over a decade. But this location, and the scale of it, is a statement about where the company is headed into the future.” The address is 262 Bowery, New York.
