AUSTIN (KXAN) — Angela Mathews and Chris Barias opened the Keep Looking Shop a little over a year ago. The East 12th Street shop, situated right next to El Tigre Coffee, is Austin’s only magazine shop and newsstand.
Mathews and Barias believe in the power of print media. When they met and started dating a few years ago, newsstands became places where they spent a lot of time together. Both being artists, they also appreciate the interaction of physically connecting with art and media.
“We spent time at newsstands together when we would travel, and it just evoked such conversation about both our own art and just the perspective that we gained from reading magazines; it also slowed us down,” Mathews said.
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Mathews has been in Austin for 16 years, and Barias for about three. With Austin being such a hub for the arts, they felt that the city was missing a dedicated space for print media. So they opened just that.
“We realized what connection was built with a more conscious way of consuming media. And so we knew that — we’ve been in Austin a really long time — and we knew that this was something that was deeply missing and something that would help to strengthen and bring our community together,” Mathews said. “I could go on and on about… just like the value of what happens when you hold something tactile in your hand.”
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Keep Looking sells “everything from glossy fashion magazines from around the world to independently published zines that capture our DIY spirit,” per their own description. Stepping into the shop, that is clear…