Many aficionados of local shopping were saddened to learn this week that Shed, the eclectic home furnishings and gift store on Baker Street, will be shutting its doors in March.
Cindy Potters at Shed (credit Joy Yagid)
“I’m leaving with the best of memories,” said owner Cindy Potters in a phone interview Thursday. “I love the people, I love the Village. It’s definitely a bittersweet closing.”
Happily for Shed lovers, Potters will be focusing on growing and expanding her very popular retail website, Shed the Eclectic Home. The site, which she launched about a year ago, features some of the items available in the store, plus many more new products from around 25 different lines.
Potters, who was formerly a buyer for Macys and wrote for the Star Ledger Home section, opened the store six years ago — “at the height of the recession” — and quickly attracted a devoted coterie of customers drawn to her well-curated selection of stylish and unique merchandise.
“Warm modern” is how Potters describes Shed’s esthetic. The shop, and the website, offers a variety of home furnishings, accessories, pillows, jewelry, gifts and artwork. Potters said some of the most popular items include Tibetan lamb benches, clean-lined, white ceramic pottery from Peru, and cozy-chic Morrocan poufs.
Tibetan Lamb Poufs (shedtheeclectichome.com)
Since announcing the closing on her Facebook page and blog, she has begun to hear from disappointed customers. “People are bummed,” said Potters, who said Shed was as much a hang-out space as a store, with people pulling up a chair and chatting with her over a cup of coffee.
“It’s really, really sad, but I’m very excited to focus on the website.”
Other local merchants have reached out as well since hearing the news. Potters has grown close to many local business owners, especially Mary Vayas of No. 165 and Michele Bessey of Perch Home. “We’ve all worked very well together,” said Potters.
“Shed was a valuable addition to the retail mix in the Village and it will be greatly missed,” said Maplewood Village Alliance manager Julie Doran. “The beautiful and unique merchandise, hand picked by Cindy, made the store a perfect complement to other businesses in town and was a go-to shop for great gifts and interesting finds. It’s hard to imagine the Village without Cindy Potters out and about every day. Her smile, energy and great style made stopping in at Shed, even just to say hello, a must. Maplewood Village won’t be the same without her. We wish her all the best.”
Meanwhile, until the store closes everything is 20% off. “Now’s the time to get your last bit of Shed in,” said Potters.
Shed Cake Plate from Peru (shedtheeclectichome.com)
She marveled that in six years of business, she had not once had a negative experience with a customer.
“I’m going to miss the people,” she said.
Shed, 100 Baker Street, 973-763-5500, shedtheeclectichome.com
