AMHERST – A mannequin displayed on the exterior patio of a new downtown store showcases some of the clothes, accessories and other eclectic items available inside.
Amber Forest owner Jim Richards said having “Long Tall Sally,” as she is known, standing near the door of the recently opened store at 106 North Pleasant St. will serve as a draw for passersby to explore what he is selling. That includes boutique clothing, sunglasses, Pashmina scarves, and silver and costume jewelry, along with rocks and fossils and vintage art deco and art nouveau furniture.
“I want it to be trendy and current and old school, all at the same time,” Richards said, noting that he obtains from auctions many of the quirky “Americana” items that he sells. “I believe in art and beautiful things.”
The bricks-and-mortar shop is an effort by Richards, who some call “Jim the Jewelry Guy,” to put down roots and transition from what has been a nearly two-decade nomadic existence of traveling from place-to-place to sell products.
“I’ve basically been on the road for the last 18 years, doing festivals and colleges, schlepping stuff from all over New England,” Richards said. “I’d like to do more than that.”
A Greenfield resident, Richards, 58, explains that since returning from Europe in the late 1990s this is only the second time he has launched a store. He previously briefly ran one in Northampton.
In Europe, he spent seven years in Amsterdam, running several shops, and during trips to Poland bought amber. “That kind of led to me calling my company Amber Forest,” Richards said.
A retail space, he said, will allow his company to blossom into something better and more creative, as he no longer has to “pick up and put down” every day.
There will also be a dedicated work area to restore furniture and to produce what he describes as luminous sculptures, lit from the inside, and which incorporate stained-glass windows. These are appropriate items to sell with the Unitarian Universalist Society’s “Angel of the Lilies” window across the street. Richards is familiar with products that illuminate from creating small light-up night charms years ago.
Richards said he hopes to make the buying process fun for his customers.
“We will display everything out so people can touch it and try it and then buy it,” Richards said.
There may also be opportunities for people to get Henna tattoos, and possibly listen to live music.
While he will sell items out of the mainstream, Richards said he does not intend to fill the void left by the closing earlier this year of The Mercantile, known by some as the hippie boutique.
Richards said he will likely rename his store Plethora to indicate the wide assortment of merchandise. “I like this town and want to be part of it for a long time,” Richards said.
Richards’ store is filling one of several vacancies at downtown storefronts owned by Barry Roberts, the president of the board of directors for the Amherst Business Improvement District.
The spaces on either side of Amber Forest, recently used by The Mercantile and All Things Local, both of which closed, as well as the former TD Bank branch at 11 Amity St., which closed last summer, remain vacant. Roberts said he is optimistic all will be filled.
While Roberts is not publicly identifying a possible tenant for the bank building, because he is still in negotiations, members of the business community say they are excited about the prospective use of the property.
Jerry Guidera, interim executive director of Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, said what is planned for the site will be a key anchor for the downtown.
Progress is also taking place at another Roberts-owned property at 30 Main St., where drywall, paint and utility work continue to transform what was most recently a branch of the Alden Credit Union into a restaurant specializing in cookies, including deliveries.
Insomnia Cookies is a national bakery chain with locations in 30 states, including two in Massachusetts on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and at Harvard Square in Cambridge. It typically has bakeries near colleges and universities.
“We decided to open in Amherst because the area seems to have a strong sense of community, and we wanted to be able to deliver and serve the UMass and Amherst College students as well,” said Christine Glasser, marketing manager, in an email.
Glasser said the Amherst location should open at the end of May.
Insomnia Cookies will open daily at 11 a.m. for retail sales, with deliveries beginning at noon and ending at 3 a.m. Besides traditional cookies, deluxe cookies and brownies, the restaurant will also have ice cream and milk on the menu.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
