The Center for Order and Experimentation Is a Thing You Need to Experience

I recommend this place to everyone. Not always as a coffee shop, not always as a retail store, but as an experience worth having. What it actually is takes a moment to explain.

Founded in 2022 by Jean Cate of Martha Mae and Julie Purpura of Avenir Creative, the Center for Order and Experimentation is a physical manifestation of its name. Order means thoughtful curation, utility, and design. Experimentation means community events, new makers, and curious objects. Together they produce a space that curates small-batch goods from independent makers alongside design-forward objects in a room that feels like it was pulled from a 1950s industrial office and then made to feel intentional about every single decision within it.

The aesthetic is specific enough to reference: 1950s industrial lighting hanging from the ceiling, purposeful lines, browns from that era's office spaces, a layout so considered that everything exists in clear relation to everything else around it. It is like walking into the set of Severance if Severance had better taste in small-batch goods. Local pop-ups run through regularly, which keeps the space buzzing and the inventory surprising.