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Marisa, 25, and Stephanie, 22, used property that has been in their family for decades to get the ball rolling on their careers, opening A Bushel and A Peck on Oct. 4.
The quaint shop on the corner of Brook and Dunwoodie Street, was purchased by the girls’ great-grandfather when he first came to America. Since then, it has been used as everything from an office to a store that sold doll house furniture and fresh chicken eggs.
“It was a little hectic at first. It was a whirlwind the week before we opened, getting everything ready and together,” Stephanie said. “All of our items are made by vendors that we know, it’s a lot of friends and family. We want to bring the community together with the things we sell.”
Marisa handles the business side of things – she majored in design and management at Parsons School of Design – and Stephanie, with a fine arts degree from St. John’s University, created many of the pieces that are sold at the shop.
“It was our parents' idea. They presented the idea to me after I graduated,” Stephanie said. “It sort of fell into our laps."
A Bushel and a Peck features a variety of hand-painted glassware and vegan soaps, and there are several artists who create jewelry for the store, including one supplier who is in El Salvador with the Peace Corps. There are custom coasters and lamps, and the store is being restocked with new pieces every day.
All of the display furniture is made of reclaimed materials, and has a history behind it, according to the sisters.
“It’s a great project, and we think there’s a lot of potential here,” Marisa said. “We’ve already learned a lot through this, and it’s really great experience. With the economy, it’s not a great time to start job searching, so we kind of made our own.”
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