Another Door and Siblings add space, products
Another Door
The glowing plates, bowls and serving ware in the window of Another Door on Main Street in Beacon are selfie magnets. Originally called Violet Reserve, the consignment boutique recently doubled its space and the new name “better suits the business,” says owner Andrea Ferko.
“It can be metaphoric: one door closes and another one opens, or as people close doors in their lives, say through moving or an estate situation,” she explains. “But it is also literal, because these items have to pass through doors and I just expanded right next door.”
Ferko opened in 2021, rebranded this past March and moved into the new space after La Mere Clothing and Goods closed. The storefronts are linked by interior doors and have a stroller and wheelchair ramp in the back.
Along with women’s fashions and housewares, Ferko offers men’s clothing and furniture. In her previous space, things got jumbled together, she says. Now, the clothes have their own showroom and the home goods section is less cluttered.
“It was a ‘wow’ moment as an entrepreneur to double the square footage so I could focus on the story I want to tell,” says Ferko.
Along with practical items, her stock includes a vintage Yashica A camera (it uses film!) and a dental compound scale. Mounted on the walls are striking local photos by Jennifer Sarah Blakeslee.
Ferko says her goal is to promote sustainability and upcycling. “These items should not have to end up in the garbage,” she says. “There is no need to buy some awful piece of new furniture made from particle board that’s going to fall apart in a year. You can get a solid wood table for around the same price.”
Be careful with the eerie-looking plates that glow underneath black light. They are known as Depression glass (because they were made between 1929 and 1939) or uranium glass (for what’s inside). They would register on a Geiger counter but are safe unless chipped or cracked, Ferko says.
“It’s a fun vintage parlor trick,” she says. “I live above the shop and see people taking pictures [of the display window] at night. It has become a fixture in Beacon. Some photos went viral and lots of collectors found us, which is a nice byproduct of having a shop with timeless things, whether they glow or not.”
Another Door is located at 468 Main St. See anotherdoorbeacon.com or call 845-202-0470.
Sybil and Siblings
Sybil, another expanding shop going for an Old World vibe, has opened a new outlet, Siblings, for children. Owner Jil Facko’s reverence for history is reflected in the store name, a tribute to Sybil Ludington, Putnam County’s Paul Revere.
Why not call the satellite shop Syblings? “It reminded me of an old AOL user name and I didn’t want to confuse children who are learning how to spell,” says Facko, a Mahopac native who cut her retail chops in Portland, Maine, for eight years.
Retail is in her blood: Her father sold coins, stamps and jewelry from a Bronx shop, buying large lots of random items and storing them at the house, she says. Once, she found a box of wallets and sold them for a dollar each to her classmates but got in trouble with the teachers.
As an adult, determined to have her own store, she started stocking up on items bought at Goodwill and scouting locations up and down the Atlantic coast. But when the pandemic hit, she decided to come home.
When a storefront opened on Main Street, she pounced. She opened in November 2020. “It was the craziest thing I ever did,” she says. “But I figured if I crashed and burned, I’d be near family.”
Facko says she searches for items with beauty, heritage, utilitarian purpose and an artisanal pedigree. Les Anis de Flavigny candies were first made in 1591 and market bags (also French) date to 1860. Imabari towels are made on Japan’s oldest loom. And, she sells the newly ubiquitous Swedish dish towels.
“Classic is never out of style,” she says. “My products are useful; they’re not just pretty things taking up space on a shelf.”
She sold children’s goods at Sybil, but as local children grow older, parents look for more than baby shower and toddler items. So Facko and a business partner, Heloisa Tomaz de Aquino, took the plunge with Siblings, where young visitors can draw while their parents shop. Their artistic creations are then hung in a mini-gallery.
Now it’s time to gear up for the holidays. “I figured that operating a small boutique would be a care-free, charming lifestyle, which is how it’s shown on TV,” says Facko. “But the joke among shop owners is that we spend our life savings for a minimum-wage job.”
Sybil is located at 426 Main St. and Siblings is at 504 Main St. See shopsybil.com.
