This Unusual Brooklyn Curiosity Shop is the location of Kelly Clarkson’s Viral Shopping Dispute

A brief shopping trip by Kelly Clarkson has suddenly made a small Brooklyn storefront one of the most talked-about shops in New York. The dispute began after Clarkson visited Art of Play at 69 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights and became interested in an elaborate mechanical bird inside the store. What followed turned into a public disagreement over a $15,000 price tag and how Clarkson says she was treated, but the viral story has also introduced millions of people to a shop that is considerably stranger than a typical toy store. Art of Play describes itself as a curiosity shop, and that is probably a better description than calling it a toy store. Its shelves combine designer playing cards, mechanical objects, puzzles, unusual games, books, optical curiosities, decorative pieces and handcrafted objects that are intended to be played with, examined or figured out. Some products cost little more than an ordinary gift, while others are elaborate pieces made by artists and craftspeople that can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. The business began long before the Brooklyn location opened. Identical twins Dan and Dave Buck founded Art of Play in 2013 after becoming well known in the worlds of magic, playing cards and cardistry, the performance art built around manipulating cards in visually elaborate ways. Art of Play initially focused heavily on designer playing cards, including limited-edition decks created in collaboration with illustrators, artists and designers. Over time, the concept expanded far beyond cards. The company began searching internationally for objects that fit a particular philosophy: things that encourage someone to stop, pick them up, investigate how they work and experience a moment of surprise. Children's author Adam Rubin, best known for books including "Dragons Love Tacos," eventually joined the Bucks, bringing his own interest in puzzles, illusions and unusual objects into the business. That philosophy is particularly obvious inside the Brooklyn shop. Art of Play sells traditional jigsaw puzzles alongside intricate wooden puzzles that can cost hundreds of dollars. There are tabletop games, unusual books, brainteasers, decorative sculptures, optical illusions, spinning objects, mechanical toys and designer decks of cards. Some items look more like pieces from a small design museum than merchandise from a conventional retail store. Playing cards remain especially important to the company. The Bucks' background in cardistry means Art of Play carries numerous custom decks with elaborate illustrations, unusual packaging and limited production runs. Some decks cost around the same as an ordinary pack of premium cards, while collectible versions can be considerably more expensive. The shop has collaborated with designers and organizations on card designs, and its catalog changes regularly as new editions are released. Puzzles are another major part of the store. Art of Play sells standard jigsaw puzzles for around $25 alongside far more elaborate handcrafted puzzles. Its recent catalog has included wooden animal puzzles priced well into the hundreds of dollars. The point is not simply difficulty. Many of the items are selected because their construction, artwork or solution contains some unexpected element. The physical Brooklyn location makes the concept even stranger. Art of Play occupies a historic storefront at 69 Atlantic Avenue near Brooklyn Bridge Park. Plants, bookshelves and wooden display tables fill the interior, while customers are encouraged to handle many of the puzzles and curiosities rather than simply looking at merchandise behind glass. There is also another business hidden behind the shop. Behind Art of Play is 69 Atlantic, an extremely small theater devoted to close-up magic. The venue seats only about two dozen people and brings in professional magicians to perform sleight of hand just a few feet from the audience. Tickets can sell out weeks in advance, and the founders have described the theater and shop as parts of the same overall experience. That background helps explain the object that started the Kelly Clarkson controversy. Clarkson visited the shop on October 10 and noticed a wooden automaton bird known as Molly. This is not an ordinary battery-powered singing toy. Molly is an elaborate handcrafted mechanical bird created by artist Bliss Kolb. The bird moves, sings and rocks when operated, using traditional mechanical construction rather than simply functioning like a mass-produced electronic toy. Clarkson says she asked about buying the bird and felt the employee responding to her was condescending. In a social media post, she compared the encounter to the famous shopping scene in "Pretty Woman," in which Julia Roberts' character is dismissed by employees at an upscale boutique. Clarkson said she felt as though the employee assumed she could not afford what she wanted and instead offered to find something comparable. Art of Play tells the interaction differently. The shop says Molly is essentially a permanent fixture attached to the wall and plays a role in the atmosphere and performances at the store. According to the owners, the employee was attempting to explain that the displayed bird itself was not available to take home and that alternatives could be arranged. That explanation created another dispute because Clarkson photographed what appeared to be a $15,000 price tag associated with the bird. She subsequently accused the shop of being dishonest about what happened. Art of Play clarified that another related automaton could be obtained from the artist and said a less expensive alternative, reportedly around $2,000, had also been discussed. Security footage released after the controversy provides some additional context but does not completely settle the disagreement because it contains no audio. The video shows Clarkson entering the store, browsing several objects, examining the wooden bird and interacting briefly with employees. Her entire visit appears to have lasted less than five minutes. What exactly was said, and particularly the tone in which it was said, cannot be determined from the silent footage. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="0"} The disagreement became dramatically larger once Clarkson posted about it online. Her original complaint reached tens of millions of views, and Art of Play suddenly received enormous attention from people who had never heard of the business. The owners said the store and its employees were subjected to angry messages, negative reviews and threats, while supporters of Clarkson argued that customers should not be made to feel judged based on their appearance. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="1"} The controversy also turned Molly herself into the most famous object in the shop. Before the incident, the mechanical bird was simply one of many unusual pieces intended to make visitors stop and investigate. After days of national headlines about a $15,000 singing bird, demand and curiosity became so intense that co-owner Adam Rubin jokingly said Molly's price was now $15 million. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="2"} For anyone visiting Art of Play because of the Clarkson story, however, Molly represents only a tiny portion of what the store actually does. The shop's inventory ranges from inexpensive card decks and small puzzles to handcrafted furniture, mechanical curiosities and collectible decorative objects. Its founders deliberately search for products that blur the line between toys, art, design and magic. The store says its collection includes magical home goods, puzzles, games, toys and books, while the hidden theater gives visitors another reason to stay after browsing the shelves. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="3"} The store's unusual approach also explains why prices vary so dramatically. A shopper might encounter a $12 deck of playing cards beside a complex handmade puzzle costing several hundred dollars, then turn around and find an artisan-built mechanical sculpture valued in the thousands. Art of Play is less a conventional toy shop than a carefully curated collection of things its owners consider fascinating. That makes the Kelly Clarkson disagreement almost perfectly suited to the place where it happened. A five-minute dispute over whether an unusual mechanical bird was actually for sale has brought far more attention to Art of Play than almost any advertising campaign could have achieved. Whether the encounter was a case of genuinely poor customer service or an unusually expensive misunderstanding remains contested. Clarkson maintains that she was treated disrespectfully. The store maintains that its employee was trying to explain the status of a highly unusual object. With no audio from the surveillance footage, there may never be a recording that definitively resolves the disagreement. What is certain is that a tiny Brooklyn curiosity shop built around playing cards, puzzles, magic and strange mechanical objects is now known around the country because one customer wanted to buy its singing wooden bird.