Zipper is a great little store with a lot of cool gift and accessory ideas, as well as having some pretty nice vintage furniture strewn about. Although much here is not unique, the store does have a lot to see.
Zipper takes pride in "melding the old with the new, art with commerce and humor with beauty and elegance."
We found that to be true. These Mathmos Aduki Lamps are rechargeable and go for $60. We also dig John Scott's White Bowl, with its torn edges ($140).
A pair of cool tortoise glass tumblers ($21) would be a great gift and Zipper does kids well, too. This little red piano ($63) is pretty darn cute, no?
Citysearch says, "Playful yet functional is the mantra for owners Steven Saden and Elizabeth Cashous, which makes one great shopping experience for urban dwellers."
Zipper has stores in both LA and Brooklyn, and there is a website that is actually user friendly.
One thing Zipper has that is lacking at other stores that target a similar consumer is an interesting infant/children's section. This is one of two places I frequent when shopping for out-of-the-ordinary baby gifts. (The other being the SFMoMA gift shop in San Francisco.)
Also, the John Scott pieces are all really lovely--bowls, vases, lamps, etc. The store is worth checking out just for his pieces.
There are defintely many unique pieces in their stock mix... mostly the smaller, imported pieces: olivewood bowls, ceramics from Vietnam, etc. You'll definitely find a lot more here than just the standard retail mix of Umbra, DesignHouse, Angela Adams, Chillewich, Mathmos, Chronicle Books, Taschen, etc. You just have to look.
Jon Scott. (I meant to type "Jon".)