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THE GREAT INDOORS: The changing face of Antique Row
Hello World boutique owner Jay Lamancuso offers a glimpse at the new Antique Row.
THE GREAT INDOORS: The changing face of Antique Row
Reporter Meg Augustin takes you inside some of Philly's most fab dwellings to showcase the city's unique grasp on design and architecture.
When Jay Lamancuso opened Hello World at 12th and Pine streets twelve years ago, he was carving out his spot on the famous Antique Row. Back then, the street was a haven for shop-happy tourists, which meant he could expect streams of antique lovers flooding in on the weekends. Today, however, "Antique Row" seems like a misnomer. There are only a handful of true antique shops left in the neighborhood, most of them with “flexible” hours. The few doors that are open offer a mix of items — with very few of them being antiques. To find out what happened to this Philly landmark, I spoke to Lamancuso’s at his current Hello Home location on Pine Street.
Hello World originally started as a vintage furniture shop. When it began, it fit nicely into Antique Row as a mid-century modern dealer. Their inventory was 90 percent vintage and 10 percent new. But times changed and Jay Lamancuso, being an astute business owner, changed with them. While his heart may have been set on being Philly’s portal to all things mid-century, he turned his business into a tourist attraction of handbags and trinkets. “Today they want the look of old things, but they want them new," says current shop manager Kyra Ellzy of the new merch.
Antique Row began to be plagued with more and more empty store fronts when businesses began jumping ship for more successful business districts like Midtown Village. Following suit, Lamancuso moved Hello World to 20th Street, but his love of home furnishings never strayed. Only a few years after having success with his handbag business, he was able to reinvent the store on Pine, this time under the name Hello Home.
Hello Home is now Antique Row’s standard for home furnishings. While labeled a “home store”, it’s not for common home gadgetry. The store is more for the luxuries of home ownership, but at a reasonable price. Unlike other stores, Lamancuso only brings in what he knows his customers can afford. The shop’s now 25 percent vintage inventory is moderately priced and the new items can be had for less than what you'd pay at big-name competitors like Williams-Sonoma and Crate and Barrel.
While the beautiful estate pieces are what gave Pine Street its name, Hello World and other new players are beginning to change the face of good ol’ Antique Row. Today, shops along Pine like Shag and Blendo are modernizing home shopping on the strip. The new breed on Pine is a group of creative entrepreneurs who are willing to meet a modern market. With online shopping and modern mega-stores like West Elm and Crate and Barrel cornering the vintage and new markets, Antique Row will have to get creative to stay afloat. As part of the street's renewal plan, shops have begun putting on their own First Friday celebration. Stores open their doors to showcase new items while offering tasty treats and classic cocktails. So the next time you're in the mood for a trip to West Elm or craving that overpriced Circa Lighting lamp, pay Pine Street a visit and see what kind of goodies you can find there.
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