A delightful miscellany in newshop

VINTAGE GOODS, FURNITURE, OLD AND NEWHOMEWARES, AND FUN, AFFORDABLE GIFTS comprise the offerings at Ampersand Old & New, located at 428 Sandoval Street, across from the Design Center. Cara and Robin Evans opened the store on Sept. 1.

Eclectic is the word here. During a November visit, Ampersand had an amazing collection of scissors in a custom rack. A La Pavoni espresso machine sat on a large cabinet that wasmade by a LosAlamos scientist specifically for his herbalist wife— at the rear of the second shelf is a long line of depressions to accommodate small bottles. Nearby was a 1980s Alessi citrus juicer designed by Philippe Starck. The cart it was on plugs in and you can heat your coffee carafe thereon.

“I just got this the other day and I’mso smitten with it,” Cara Evans said, picking up and turning on a vintage Boy Scout flashlight. “It’s so ergonomic.” And of course it works perfectly. A good selection of tote bags hung from a rack—“the perfect gift, because everybody uses them now.”

“I look for things that are really classic. Everybody inmy family has a round oak table like this.” Another of the many tables available in the large, bright space was a mid-century tubular-steel Formica table with a lever that brings up leaves. “Isn’t it beautiful? I had a lot of midcentury when I opened, but it all sold. I found all of this in Roswell.”

She and her husband, a carpenter, had a business similar to this one in Silver City. It was called Rejuvenation. “I would shop at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, which I call the Mother Ship. It’s 800 vendors of some of the best vintage pieces in the country.”

Ampersand occupies the space that formerly held Ashlyn Perry’s business, Lux. Next door is Emily Henry Interiors, which took over that real estatewhenHunt Modern centralized its operations at 1131 Siler Road. In good weather, Ampersand is particularly welcoming with its large front doors open to the sidewalk. Christmas music was playing in the store a few days before Thanksgiving: ‘ Tis the season

PHOTOS BY PAUL WEIDEMAN