Calling all vintage and antique lovers! There’s a new shop in town, and you’re going to need a cart ;) Barn and Brick Co. held their grand opening at The Shirt Factory this past weekend, and we caught up with owners Sheila Kent and Jeremy Iaquinto to find out more about their transition to brick and mortar, what you can expect to see in store, and more…
How did Barn and Brick Co. come to be?
Barn and Brick Co. is the product of years of collecting, building, and repurposing of a variety of interesting items. We decided to make B&B Co. a reality in 2018 after realizing how hard it is for design-savvy people to source amazing decor and authentic DIY materials. We wanted to make it easy for interior designers and weekend warriors to find the perfect piece.
Barn and Brick takes art, repurposed decor, and original B&B Co. products and combines them with the picking experience of an antique and architectural salvage location.
Our home tells our story and we want to help people tell theirs.
How has B&B Co. evolved over time?
The evolution of Barn and Brick was more like a yo-yo. We started out with the vision for the brick and mortar location we have today, however, we then began to travel the East Coast selling at antique shows and vintage markets on weekends. That was a grueling and energy intensive way to sell. It was a cycle of pack, setup, sell, tear down, pack up, and unload. We took short breaks and then we would repeat the cycle. It was madness. The pandemic forced us to reset. We’d been on the search for a retail location since then. When the owner of The Shirt Factory told us there was space available, we decided to quickly make our first brick and mortar location a reality.
This space was really a mixture born of the necessity to get out of the antique show circuit and our local customers asking when they could come “pick” our inventory. We truly believe we have something special to offer and wanted to share it in central year-round location.
What can people expect to see at Barn and Brick?
People will find farmhouse, chippy, architectural, mid century and antique/vintage pieces. We also have several lines of our own hand-made and designed products.
Sheila is the zhuzh’er. She brings items together in new and interesting ways that makes the decor feel like it was always meant to be there.
I’m the artist and builder. I build one-of-a-kind pieces from repurposed materials, paint UFOs into thrift-store paintings, turn old pianos into bars, and create industrial tool cabinets from wine racks.
We sell antiques but we aren’t a traditional antique store. I tell people we sell home decor and furnishings that tell a story. It just happens that most antique and vintage items have a patina from age that does just that.
What are some perks of the job?
We love sharing the picking experience with people just like us. People send us pictures with items they found at B&B Co. displayed beautifully in their homes. That always puts a smile on our faces.
What's next for Barn and Brick?
Global domination, of course! Actually, we really want to earn trust as being one of the best places around to find great products that tell your story.
We have some really exciting brand new B&B Co. products coming out each holiday season. As for the antiques and vintage products, our goal is to have fresh-from-the-barn products arriving weekly and at amazing prices.
