The idea came to them while they were browsing the internet, loving what they were finding, and wondering out loud: "Where do you buy that? Why can't we find these things here?"
And so Pop Up Shop, the brainchild of interior designer , photographer Christina Bohn and event planner Laura Mastriano, was born.
"It's a collection of things we really dig," Mancuso said. "...We wanted to bring all the things we love and surround ourselves with at home, and share it with everyone."
The Pop Up Shop's wares range from sweet touches like candles and ribbons and notecards to larger elements such as framed photography and home accent items – all falling within a particular theme. A theme that couldn't be described in just one word.
"I think it's more classic in style," Mancuso said. "We went very pure, very neutral."
"Classic, organic, crisp," Bohn said.
"Fresh for spring," Mancuso said.
"A little Hamptons," Mastriano said.
"A little Nantucket," Mancuso added.
All wrapped up into one two-day event, set for Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Studio in Stony Brook. A pop-up shop, as it's called in the U.K., is a retail trend in which a temporary shopping space is set up to serve customers eager to buy specific kinds of merchandise. Kate Spade, Comme des Garcons, and Louis Vuitton are some designers who have launched pop-up shops as part of their campaigns.
The Studio's Pop Up Shop will also include a selection of appetizer tastings from local chef Peter Baran and cake pops and other treats available from specialty baker Leanne Rose.
Supporting businesses in town is one of the goals of Pop Up Shop, Mancuso said. For instance, products from The Crushed Olive will be tasted at the event.
"We want this town to be successful in all ways, shapes and forms," Mancuso said.
The venue is an unlikely one. Formerly home to Mancuso's second retail location, Samantha Drew Home, she wanted to keep what she described as "an amazing, chameleon space" and repurpose it somehow when she moved that part of her business online. Bohn, Mastriano, and Rose jumped on board to share the place as a workspace and – as it would later evolve – a place in which to engage and connect their community of clients and friends. It's been turned into everything from a hot "girls night out" party space to a winter wonderland.
"It's like being in Brooklyn in a co-op, but in Three Village," Mancuso said.
Mastriano called The Studio "a magical place."
"It's such an amazing group of female business owners," she said. "They inspire me every day. It's contagious feeling that energy and passion. They just help to keep that fire going."
