This new home goods store opened shortly before Christmas, across the street from Emily Dickinson's house.

Click photo to enlarge.

(1/4/07)  A lovely new store has opened on Main Street, across the street from the Dickinson Homestead.  It is called “The Claw Foot Tub,” and in the words of co-owner Ariana Inglese, it offers “simple things, useful things and special treasures for the home.”

Among them – beeswax candles from South Deerfield, lush textiles from India, teacups, soaps, blankets, vases and antique decorative items.  A line of upholstered furniture will soon be available, and offerings will grow and change based on customer input.  Inglese said people have requested pots and pans and more kitchenware pieces, and those items will be incorporated into the store’s mix.

Beautiful necessary and decorative items fill the store.

Click photo to enlarge.

Inglese said the store opened two weeks ago, just before Christmas.

“We were doing well with gifts, lots of people buying gifts,” she said, noting that customers have now begun buying items for themselves and their own homes.

Inglese was previously a teacher at the Hartsbrook School, and co-owner Mary Moore Cathcart had an interior design business which she continues and may one day operate from an upstairs space above the store.  This is the pair’s first retail venture.

“We both find a lot of spirituality in home-keeping, and being conscious of the items we put into our homes,” said Inglese.

Candles, blankets, textiles and antique knick-knacks are among the offerings.

Click photo to enlarge.

They are looking into acquiring more fairly-traded items and products such as sheets made from organic cotton.  Inglese said that among the new business challenges is finding quality items that can be offered at reasonable prices and come from vendors with whom they can feel good doing business.

Naming the business for an old fashioned plumbing item was the result of brainstorming by the pair. 

“We like how useful [claw foot tubs] are,” Inglese explained.   “And there is something cozy and family-centered about them.”

They are put to good use in the store – both a full-size version and a petite “maid’s tub” hold and display pillows, quilts and other items.  Inglese said customers have also shared their stories about – and affection for – such tubs.

The store is located at 321 Main Street, at the corner of Main and Dickinson Streets, by the light at Triangle Street.  It is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and is open until 7:00 p.m. on Thursdays.

Co-owner Ariana Inglese is the daughter of local ceramic mural artist Judith Inglese, who created this piece for the store.

Click photo to enlarge.

Soaps and oils catch the light by the sunny front window.

Click photo to enlarge.