ANTIQUES STORES ‘EXTREMELY BUSY’
NEW RESIDENTS TO AREA ARE SEEKING VINTAGE HOME FINDS
Searching for antique furniture and home décor can be something of a sport as shoppers hunt for the perfect pieces to add to their homes. In some of Connecticut’s antique stores, however, the competition has heightened.
For Robert Graham, owner of Housatonic Trading Co., in Bantam, seeing new customers from New York City in his store is becoming more and more of a regular occurrence.
“We meet new clients that have recently or are awaiting closing on a new home purchase every week,” he said via email.
Happy to have new residents join the Redding locals in “appreciating our little town,” owner of Fleur de Lis antique shop DottieDeLuca said the draw to the area has also been a draw to the antiques industry in general.
“It's kind of nice for vintage,” she said. “People are wanting the quality and they can't buy it new online. It's kind of nice — it's kind of a little revival.”
DeLuca's Long Ridge Road shophas been “extremely busy” with former New York City residents who relocated to the area during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once her store was able to reopen in the spring of 2020 in accordance with Gov. Lamont’s phase 1 reopening plan, DeLuca said she started noticing new clientele.
“Slowly over time, people see the cars with a New York license plate — they were all relocating and coming in,” she said. “So it's gotten busy as far as people needing to really furnish their homes. I see people every day coming in that have just bought homes in the area.”
Connecticut has received a greater portion of new arrivals in 2020 than towns and villages in New York spanning the lower Hudson River Valley and on Long Island. Towns like Ridgefield and Washington Depot both experienced high numbers of net moves, previous Hearst Connecticut reporting shows.
Graham started seeing these new residents trickling into his store in early June 2020 and has seen them return as they continue to settle into their new homes.
“Our [New York City] buyers are typically looking initially for the basics of furnishing and styling a home: dining tables, sideboards, coffee tables, side tables, occasional chairs, dressers and case goods,” he said. “After those pieces are selected, we typically see them looking for lighting, artwork, decorative items, pillows…now that spring is here, many new residents are thinking outdoors, furniture, planters [and] urns.”
Beyond the basics and finishing touches, DeLuca said she also found that many of her newly-relocated shoppers were seeking two particular items that may have been inspired by the time they spent indoors during the pandemic.
“I've had a lot of mirrors and artwork [sales],” she said. “If they're going to be stuck in there for a while, they want to be inspired with some pretty things to hang on the walls.”
Edie van Breems, coowner of Eleish Van Breems in Westport, said the New York transplants shopping in her two town locations are interested in more refined antique designs for their homes.
“What we find they are most interested in are higher quality items and furnishings that are more investment pieces rather then throw away fun design,” she said in an email. “Given all of the instability over the last year, people are looking for balance and a home filled with things that will support and nurture them. Quality of materials and good design are at the top of everyone’s list.”
In 2020, Westportled all state ZIP codes in net gains in people establishing residency via purchasing, renting or making a weekend home a permanent address, previous Hearst Connecticut reporting shows.
Almost a year since Connecticut antique store owners started seeing New Yorkers in their shops, and there is no sign of it slowing down.
“Since last year, it's been pretty steady,” DeLuca said. “There's such a demand. And people can't even order furniture because it's back ordered or their factory had been shut down.”
In Graham’s experience, having more demand in his store is a welcome sight, even among locals.
“The sense I get is that locals are welcoming the new residents to our area,” he said. “Due to the rise in home sales and the incoming [New York City] buyers, there has been, in my view, a positive economic impact on a wide spectrum of businesses related to homes.”
van Breemsis hopeful that New Yorkers' stay in the state and in her stores will not be short-lived.
“I think for some, they may return to the city in a few years after things open up entirely,” she said. “There may be more city mouse to country mouse converts then expected though – Connecticut is still a great place.”