Business & Tech

Stuart Nordin Design Opens in Old Town

The designer, Stuart Nordin, grew up on S. St. Asaph St., where she's now opening her first shop.

Stuart Nordin Design is opening next week in Old Town, marking a return to the designer’s roots where she grew up on S. St. Asaph Street.

“I’ve always loved Old Town…and it’s become such a great center for owner-operated boutiques,” Nordin said. “It’s a perfect place for a sense of community.”

Nordin grew up on St. Asaph and recently moved to Ford’s Landing from Harvard Street.

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“My husband and I were out walking and happened to see a sign in front of 101 S. St. Asaph that said the location was available,” Nordin recalls. “It’s the same street I grew up on. I thought ‘This is the place. This is the time.’”

Nordin had been commuting into Washington, D.C., where she worked for a design firm but decided that after the birth of her son, now 13 months, spending a couple of hours a day commuting to D.C. was just “too much time in the car.”

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Her solution was to open her own store, close to home.

Nordin describes her style as offering a “comfortable every day way of living but that is still beautiful and has some distinctive” feature to it.

But she said she believes in “beautiful homes, with indestructible materials,” partly because, she says, before she had her son, she had two “very slobbery” bulldogs so she’s well acquainted with the importance of good-looking design that’s easy to clean.

Her store currently features home accessories, women’s accessories, baby products and a few dog products – as a nod to the former tenants, a dog bakery. She also scours antique stores, flea markets and mom-and-pop stores to find unique items.

“It’s a little bit of everything that I like,” sai Nordin, who also joined the Old Town Boutique District.

Additionally, she’s started a “guest buyer” program, offering a budget to friends and family going on trips to return with unique items she could sell in the boutique.

“Every six weeks we’ll have a new guest buyer and that will be pretty neat,” she said. “There’s always be something different when somebody comes in.”

Her store, which opens Aug. 9, will be open on Monday by appointment only, Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m.

 


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