Obi, a new South Lamar shop built around books, records, objects, and an appreciation for culture and artisanship, will start its soft opening phase October 2.
The new retail project from documentary photographer Michael Magers and creative director Sergio Alcocer is located at 2055 S. Lamar Blvd., just north of Loro Asian Smokehouse. The shop will be open from noon to 7 pm October 2-4 and again October 9-11.
Obi sits in the space somewhere between a shop and a gallery, with photo and art books, records, and objects as the main draw, and wall space used to complement the work. Magers says the gallery element is secondary, but the walls give the shop room to pair projects together, such as a book signing with an artist’s photographs.
The shop’s Japan connection runs through much of the early inventory. Magers says he is bringing in unique items through contacts in Japan, including Japanese pressings with obi strips — the paper bands wrapped around many Japanese records and books that give the shop its name. The word also refers to the sash worn with traditional Japanese clothing, another nod to how small details can hold a larger composition together.
Obi's larger idea is slow discovery. In announcing the shop, Magers wrote that some of his favorite travel experiences have come from walking into a shop without knowing what he was looking for and leaving with something he “had no idea existed.”
Obi pairs framed photography with ceramics and objects, giving the South Lamar shop a gallery-like feel. Photo by Mike Magers
That feeling is tied to Magers’ work as a photographer. He says he has spent almost 15 years documenting craftsmanship around the world, mostly in black-and-white photography, and he and Alcocer wanted to bring that ethos into the space. That includes the shop’s displays, which were made with craftspeople whose work Magers also wants to showcase.
The philosophy behind Obi is visible in In Practice Journal, Magers’ Substack about makers, materials, and process. A Japanese papermaker leads him to think about signed and unsigned craft. A Kyoto ceramic artist shows him the limits of control. A bamboo weaver becomes a study in repetition, precision, and material knowledge. Obi brings those same ideas into a retail space, asking visitors to slow down and notice how things are made, held, and displayed.
Alcocer brings a different but complementary kind of world-building. He is the founder of Rest of the World, an Austin agency that describes its work as “human-led brand building for challenger brands.” For HBO’s Diego Maradona documentary, the agency captured the world around the soccer star — the artifacts, images, mythology, and devotion that made him larger than the game. That same instinct for building a world around objects helps explain Obi’s gallery-like approach.
Obi’s early inventory includes items sourced through Magers’ contacts in Japan.Photo by Mike Magers
Magers’ connection to Japan is long-running. In an April essay for In Practice Journal, he wrote that a recent three-week trip was his 26th visit to Japan in 14 years. His recent essays have returned to Japanese craftspeople, galleries, listening bars, photography festivals, and the relationships built by returning to the same places over time.
At Obi, that perspective shows up in the mix: objects selected less for quick turnover than for close attention. It is a place to browse, but also a place to look at the craftsmanship behind what is on the shelves and the shelves themselves.
Updates as Obi moves past its soft opening phase will be available on Instagram @obiatx.
