Vintage sportswear boutique in East Village takes sports fans back to their childhood

A step inside a boutique tucked away in the East Village takes a sports fan through a time warp back to the 80s and 90s—back to their childhood.

A purveyor of vintage sportswear—Long Island native Mike Spitz opened Mr. Throwback in 2012.

"Everybody wants something new and dope and nostalgic and I was like, 'We could do this,'" said Spitz. "Original starter jackets, original hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, sneakers, toy video games, you name it—we have it. Every year it gets better and better and finding things gets harder and harder."

It's already become very trendy to rock the one-of-a-kind items—but the boutique recently got quite the boost—thanks to the famous girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

"She's brought in so much new business and that's what's great about it. Obviously, we're a store. We need people to walk in. We don't mind if your money's coming from Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce—like it doesn't matter."  

Spitz and Manager Anthony Messina also cater to quite the list of celebrity fans of the store—including one of the most prominent supporters of the New York Knicks.

"He goes, 'Who's Mr. Throwback?' He pulls down his mask and it's Spike Lee," said Messina. "And we both kind of froze for a minute that was probably the coolest. He's a very nice guy. He's been here a couple of times, very easy to deal with—we know what he wants."

Spitz gets his hands on the merch any way he can and will even travel to a different state to do so. T-Shirts go for $30 to a hundred bucks while jackets will set you back a few hundred—but Mr. Throwback is always willing to negotiate.

"It's all relative. Personally, I wouldn't spend $10,000 on a watch, but I'll buy a basketball jersey—game used by Patrick Ewing for five grand," explains Spitz. "We love this culture—we're obsessed."

There's a special for the Big Game—all NFL gear is half off—except for the team that captures the Super Bowl.