The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A classic style, a new experience, at boutique
The shopping experience at The Dressing Room is a new twist on an old idea. One stop shopping under one roof. Sort of like the department stores of yore.
Only it’s more cozy, and not just a store but a local hang out — especially for those who like ‘girly’ things.
While the large black sign, with gold lettering, at 703 Boston Post Road clearly invites shoppers to visit The Dressing Room, once inside visitors learn that this is really three shops in one — The Dressing Room, Annie Mame and Lindsay J.
“We’re trying to make this a girly-girly place, where you can come, get an outfit, get a gift, get your hair blown out, get lashes and makeup and go out the door,” says Annie Mame owner Ann Nyberg.
All the shop owners agree that they want customers to come in and feel relaxed.
“It’s just fun,” says The Dressing Room Christine Rinere who owns the shop.
“Our customers come in here, they drop all their stuff at the front desk and just kind of hang out, which is what we wanted it to be,” she said.
This is exactly what was going on, on a recent Saturday morning. One customer worked with Lyndsay Rinere as she tried on mother of the bride dresses; another customer, preparing for the Hartford Hospital Gala, purchased a dress and made an appointment with Lindsay J for makeup later in the day and a young professional purchased two candles at Annie Mame for her new apartment.
“I came in looking for a dress for a wedding I’m going to be in, but decided I love all these tchotchkes,” says Emma Hoff, clutching her candles and a vintage pencil holder for a friend.
“I love all this stuff, it’s just right up my alley,” adds the 27-year-old.
Open for three years in the center of Madison, The Dressing Room carries everything from formal wear to tank tops for that relaxed summer afternoon, plus accessories. Their Wallingford store opened 11 years ago.
Nyberg, a Madison resident and WTNH anchor for 33 years, has been a customer for years.
“Everybody has a different lifestyle, everybody has different needs, everybody has a different personal style, so we don’t want to railroad someone into not feeling comfortable, but at the same time we want to push them a little bit to consider something they’ve never considered before and feel great,” says The Dressing Room co-owner Christine Rinere.
This is exactly the approach they use when outfitting Nyberg and the rest of the WTNH news staff.
“I was not doing well,” Nyberg says, referring to dressing for on-air. “I’m looking at my closet going, ‘I need help,’” she says, laughing with 53-year-old Christine Rinere and her 25-yearold daughter, Lyndsay Rinere, who is a buyer and coowner of the shop.
So started the partnership, with The Dressing Room stepping in as stylist for the local television station.
Then came discussions about forming a more personal relationship, moving Nyberg’s boutique, Annie Mame, into The Dressing Room.
“Because we like each other a lot,” says Madison resident Christine Rinere.
“She’s so awesome,” chimes in Nyberg.
In business since 2012, Annie Mame offers one-of-akind gifts, vintage and new, many handcrafted locally. The store is named after the 1958 movie titled “Auntie Mame,” staring Waterburyborn Rosalind Russell.
“This had always been my favorite movie, so I named it Annie Mame, because it was available,” Nyberg explains.
Nyberg works diligently to offer local products. She carries everything from handcrafted signs and greeting cards by Westbrook’s Lisa Fatone, wooden cutting boards by Madison’s Travis Gulick, Madison Earth Care’s Rachel Blundon’s candles, to Harney & Sons tea, founded in Salisbury, Conn. and hats and sweatshirts by The Two Oh Three, celebrating the state of Connecticut.
“This is my personality in here, this is who I am,” says Nyberg. “Very vintage, very homespun…
“Very old fashioned, in many ways,” she adds. “Where you just have a cup of coffee, hang out.”
Nyberg is quick to add that she has curated an eclectic arrangement of merchandise.
“It’s got overtures to very down to earth stuff, to fun, to glitter,” she says.
It was the additional of Lindsay J hair and makeup studio that really completed the arrangement.
With the mother-daughter team of Christine and Lyndsay Rinere at The Dressing Room, it only seemed fitting to add Lindsay J’s owner Lindsay Johnson, who is Nyberg’s daughter, to the business.
“That’s sort of the fun thing that kind of happened,” Nyberg says. “This has all just happened. None of this was planned, it just kind of happened. We love the fact that the Lindsay’s are similar in age and Chris and I…”
“This is a department store,” the Nyberg says, walking from The Dressing Room to Annie Mame.
“It’s like a mini department store,” she continues. “That’s what’s going on here.”
Standing in her small, but compact space, the 63-yearold talks about her retail philosophy.
“There’s puzzles and purses and gifts, but as much as I can find one of a kind, that’s my soft spot is when I get stuff people don’t have,” she says.
Nyberg is very aware of her competition, up and down the Shoreline. It is with this in mind that she is constantly researching and procuring unique merchandise. “It’s an expression of who I am in that I love people, I love stories,” she says. “I’m telling stories with the stuff I’m carrying and retail is very interesting to me.”
Even with a full-time news career, Nyberg spends as much time as she can at her shop. “I really want to be a success at this,” she reflects.
“This isn’t like a hobby. I love the space where we are…there’s a lot of synergy. It’s nice to have a space where you just want to go to because it’s just fun. It’s just fun.”
Right next door to Annie Mame, Lindsay Johnson has carved out her own little niche with Lindsay J, offering “blow dries, up styles, down styles, makeup, temporary lash application,” she explains.
The bespoke design allows for one hair washing station and one seating area with a mirror.
“I’ll do some haircuts and trims in here,” the 33-yearold adds. “The overall vibe we want to have…sort of like a Polly Pocket department store where you can just come in, feel like one of the girls and just escape for a little bit.”
After growing up in town and moving away for a bit, Johnson is back in town with her husband and 2-year-old son. While she has travelled for the last 10 years to be on location for weddings, she is happy to have a “home base.”
“Now that I’m here I’m kind of reestablishing and getting to know my neighbors again, having grown up here,” she says.
Clinton resident, Cathy Weiss, is a client at Lindsay J’s and enjoys the intimate setting and personal attention. “It’s a very warm environment and relaxed, much like her personality,” Weiss says. “It’s one-on-one service and it’s just no stress and you just feel very special in there,” she adds.
For Nyberg, the collaboration going on at The Dressing Room makes her happy and excited about going in to work at Annie Mame and being in the center of town is just the icing on the cake. “I pinch myself,” she says. “I’ve lived here 25 years, to be downtown, among all these shopkeepers, is a thrill. “’Wait, what? Main Street?’” she adds. “I never thought I could be part of Main Street. I’m thrilled to be a part of what Madison is. I love this town.”