Marvel brings its decorating touch to East Lyme
East Lyme — Marvel Home Decorating had been a New London institution since the time of The Day's first publisher, Theodore Bodenwein, tracing its history back 84 years — first to Bank Street, then to State Street and finally to the New London Mall.
But for current owner Gail Grillo, the decision to take the business down the highway to the Flanders Plaza Shopping Center was a no-brainer. Times had changed, and a lot more business is being done on the Internet these days, so all the giftware and accessories that she had stocked at the old store seemed superfluous.
Besides, the landlord had gone up drastically on the rent, she said.
"It was time to make this easier," Grillo, a Quaker Hill resident, said.
Grillo estimates her new store, between a salon and Citizens Bank, is about half the size of her previous New London Mall shop. And that's fine, because after 37 years in one place it was time to move on, and the new store no longer needs to adhere to mall hours that required it to be open Sundays and most holidays.
"We were closed three days a year — that was it," Grillo said. "We can make our own hours now."
With home decor items so easy to purchase online, Grillo said, Marvel is concentrating more than ever on the custom shades, blinds, draperies and decor in which it has always specialized. Grillo and her team will go into customers' homes to do all the measurements and installation, concentrating this time of year on the second-home market.
And while some folks from the Mystic and Stonington area might not like the move, she said, the new store is only about five minutes farther down Interstate 95, with easy access to the highway. New London is only a small part of the store's market, she added, while the Flanders location allows Marvel to potentially reach toward Old Saybrook and Colchester customers it rarely tapped into in the past.
Marvel opened its new quarters June 6, taking a week to move locations. Whatever hadn't been sold off at the old location that wasn't destined for Flanders wound up being donated to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore shop in Waterford or Safe Futures, the former women's center in New London.
"It's like a big load lifted off of me," Grillo said of the move to smaller quarters, which has reduced her need to do inventory, ordering and trade shows.
The new store has been designed with home decor gracing the outside window area to lure in customers, while inside a Hunter Douglas display of shades, blinds and draperies dominates one side of the shop. Grillo said motorized window treatments allowing homeowners to operate blinds and shades via cellphone or tablet is one of the cool new offerings available in home decor today.
"There are apps where you can program them to open or close," she said. "And the price has come down lately."
Some motorized window treatments add as little as $175 to the cost of a shade, she said. And Hunter Douglas products can qualify for energy-saving tax credits, Grillo added. Other products on display in the store include pillows, clocks, lamps, jewelry, artwork, mats and furniture, and the shop has books with close to 5,000 custom fabrics that customers can peruse.
Grillo said the fall and spring are typically her busiest times of the year, and her clientele tends to be older adults averaging about 60 who are looking for high-quality products and a personal touch. Wallpaper, she said, is starting to make a bit of a comeback among today's homeowners.
Business took a hit after the 2008 financial crisis when home prices started to fall, she said, but sales are slowly starting to come back. She markets through radio, newspapers, social media and special events such as last weekend's Celebrate East Lyme Day.
"It doesn't matter how long you've been around, some people won't know about you," she said.
But Grillo said she is very happy with her new shop, the location for which she started hunting last fall. She said she maintained the same number of employees despite the smaller quarters.
"It really was a blessing in disguise," she said. "The business climate has changed so much with the internet."
Marvel Hope Decorating
Where: Flanders Plaza Shopping Center, East Lyme
Who: Gail Grillo, owner
Hours: 9:30-6 Mon.-Thurs.; 9:30-7 Fri.; 9:30-5 Sat.; closed Sun.
Website: http://www.marvelhomedecorating.com/
Phone: 860-451-8437
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