Westport resident Cindi Molchan recently realized a long-held dream of turning her love of collecting vintage items into owning and operating her own antiques, collectibles, décor and gift store.
The Painted Pelican in Grayland on SR105, a half block south of Bennett’s restaurant, officially opened for business on May 21, and, according to Molchan, the response already has been exceptionally positive.
Literally thousands of items are for sale on both floors of the building that run the gamut from kitchen kitsch to drawing room elegants, antique furniture to historical photos, quilts and linens to lamps, nauticals to old tools and more. There is no small supply of interesting items that will appeal to both genders here and it’s well worth a stop to browse and/or buy.
Molchan even offers her own line of handcrafted beach signs, with a wide variety of sentiments stenciled onto driftwood finds.
Filled with finds
Molchan has an obvious flair for display, filling each of the first floor rooms — large and small — along with two additional vendors offering more unique nautical and vintage décor upstairs in the former efficiency apartment that also are filled to the rafters.
Add to that the fact that Cindi continues to very actively seek out more collectibles and antiques on a regular basis to replenish her shelves, every trip to The Painted Pelican is guaranteed to offer new selections of vintage items to consider.
Longtime beachers
Cindi and her husband Peter have owned a cottage in uptown Westport for more than 18 years and vacationed on the South Beach as often as possible.
A year and a half ago, the two decided to make a permanent move here.
Still needing to work for a few more years, Cindi went on the hunt for a local job. “But, given the current economy, there were no jobs, so I decided to create one,” she said.
Booth beginning
Toward that end, Molchan rented booth space in a Grayland shop to sell some of the things from her personal collection, as well as many more treasures that she has found at estate sales, auctions and garage and yard sales.
Flea market success
Experiencing success in selling items there, she and the shop owner decided to try a monthly flea market last summer in an open area next to the store location, including offering sales spaces to other local collectors and vendors.
It also brought great results, and because what she had to offer was so well received, Cindi decided it was time to move forward again by finding a storefront of her own.
Shop dream realized
The opportunity to open her own shop was realized when, early this spring, Molchan met with the owner of the small roadside cottage in Grayland that has served as a gift shop for several different individuals since the 1960s.
A deal was struck and following her landlord’s replacement of wiring and plumbing that had been stripped from the building while it was vacant, Molchan spent many hours working on interior painting and cleaning.
Once the building was ready, she devoted another several weeks loading in and arranging her collection in preparation for The Painted Pelican’s opening day in May.
Shop hours
The Painted Pelican is currently open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you would like more information about specific types of collectibles that Molchan has available, stop by or give her a call at 268-7449.
