Though you’ll see lots of foot traffic on Libbie and Grove avenues, Westhampton is anything but pedestrian. The charming square mile, located near St. Catherine’s School and a stone’s throw from the University of Richmond, is home to a variety of businesses where inspiration meets commerce. Here, four area merchants are taking “shop local” to another level by offering products they make or design on the premises.
Apothec owner Tricia Boor in her Libbie Avenue store (Photo by Jay Paul)
For Tricia Boor, opening Apothec Pantry & Parfumerie, an apothecary, at 318 Libbie Ave. in December 2018 was like coming home.
Boor had occupied the same space 20 years ago for nearly a decade, when she founded and ran an organic wellness spa. She closed the spa in 2008, working as a master aesthetician for plastic surgeon Michael Godin a few doors down, running a massage therapy practice, and crafting naturally derived bath and body products in rented studio space below Godin’s office. Boor came back to 318 Libbie when a client purchased the building, its previous occupants left, and the client suggested she return to the space.
Apothec is a fusion of Boor’s talents, skills and passions, offering its own line of bath, body and home products as well as massage services, facials, Reiki and reflexology. The space evokes the feel of a turn-of-the-century French apothecary, a mix of penny tile, rustic wood and glass. Apothecary jars hold dried chamomile, lavender, hibiscus and more. Softly lit shelves feature Apothec products such as herbal bath salts, exfoliating cleansers, body washes, lotions and oils and room sprays. Products are made on-site in small batches, and Boor strives to use organic, vegan, fair-trade ingredients.
Though she works long hours, she says none of it feels like work in the traditional sense of the word. “I have created my personal playground,” she says. “I have taken my hobbies and passions and created a livelihood for myself.”
(Photos courtesy On U)
For many years, a two-story house on Patterson Avenue was home to Donna Silvestri’s On U jewelry studio. Though the studio served mostly as a workspace, customers also came to purchase her signature hand-knotted, hand-crocheted glass, vintage and semiprecious beaded jewelry. “If my car was out front, we were ‘open,’ ” she says.
Today you’ll find Silvestri’s studio in a bright retail space just a mile or so away at 5707 Grove Ave. where Silvestri and her husband, Greg, who helps run the business, moved in April 2018. “We’ve always been ‘On U Jewelry’; now we’re ‘On U Designs and Finds’ because we have the space,” Donna says. “It’s our philosophy to try to get other handmade items that are local or at least Virginia-based.” She says she and her husband also enjoy scouting for goods to sell while traveling.
On U jewelry fans range in age “from 5 to 95” and come from all walks of life: “truck drivers, doctors, judges,” Donna says. The versatile pieces — necklaces, bracelets and earrings incorporating beads and semiprecious stones crocheted onto cording — are made by hand by Donna with helpers who assist with crocheting. You can see these creations in progress in the studio at the back of the store.
On U also has a robust wholesale and online business and sells jewelry at juried art festivals throughout the region. Here on Grove Avenue, the Silvestris have created a destination. “We want this to be a community space,” says Donna, noting that they will offer crafting classes to take advantage of the spacious location.
(Photo courtesy Peter-Blair)
Dick Fowlkes will tell you that his sister, Kate Ackerly, is “the better painter” of the artistic duo. The siblings run men’s clothier Peter-Blair and Peter-Blair Accessories respectively, a literal and figurative cornerstone of the Westhampton shopping district, located at the corner of Libbie and Grove avenues.
Since 1993 Fowlkes has been clothing men of all ages from the upscale menswear and accessories boutique named for his godchildren. In 2003, Ackerly began designing ties, pocket squares and cummerbunds to complement the boutique’s clothing lines after she and Fowlkes went to Italy to scout silks. With their keen sense of color and design, they decided they could do it better themselves, and Peter-Blair Accessories was born.
Ackerly draws the patterns by hand upstairs at the Peter-Blair store. The wittier designs represent plays on words — dog paddle, tail gate, whisk key — while others are straightforward traditional patterns. Bold colors are always at play and the ties are handmade in Brooklyn, New York.
Fowlkes says that dapper customers are embracing a new accessory: pocket squares, which he calls “the new ties.”He believes in the growth of the Westhampton area, despite challenges such growth naturally brings. “It’s getting to be such a cool place,” he says, citing new stores coming and condos going up. He says he makes a point to refer shoppers to other local businesses. “We try to stick together up here,” he says. “People who come in are happy shoppers, shoppers who love to be told where to go next.”
(Photo courtesy CCH Collection)
A veteran of the New York City fashion scene, Carter Johnston began designing and producing a collection of women’s clothing five years ago, mostly for trunk shows in the Southeast. She and her young family were moving to Richmond — her husband grew up here — when the space at 5718 Grove Ave. became available. Johnston snatched it up, and CCH Collection opened October 2014.
Johnston designs the collection’s signature pieces while her sister, Alston Daigh, manages production in New York. CCH Collection is known for “versatile pieces you can dress up or dress down, at any age,” Johnston says. The clothes are not cheap, she says, but are designed to last and are sold at more attainable prices than other high-end lines.
Johnston’s own lifestyle provides inspiration for her designs. “I’m a mom of three. I’m on the go, I’m always reaching for things that are easy but look put together,” she says. Bestsellers are the store’s button-downs, blouses, jackets and vests, which Johnston says can go casual with jeans or dressy with black pants or leather leggings. You’ll see a handful of prints (think cheetah, florals), stripes and solids, made from cotton, polyester and poly blends.
Johnston also carries other lines that complement her pieces and accessories that pair well with CCH looks. She intends to beef up her online business, though the bulk of her sales is with local repeat customers. She says she’s seen an increase in foot traffic with the addition of Taste a few doors down. “There’s a lot happening here,” she says. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
