The Crow’s Nest, a self-billed “quaint, unique shop,” has a new location on North Howell Street.
The Crow’s Nest sells both unmodified and repurposed antique furniture, gourmet food, art, vintage jewelry, candles, decorative lights, stained glass and, other decorative items. The merchandise is displayed in primitive or shabby cottage style.
As owner, Suzanne Spiteri said both primitive and shabby cottage styles feature a distressed, rustic look reminiscent of a “simpler” time, often incorporating rough wood, burlap and chipped paint. Primitive style has a darker and more distressed—meaning beaten-up—look, while shabby cottage emphasizes the color white and is less distressed.
Spiteri makes many of the items in her shop, often repurposing found objects.
“When I look at things I see things, and then I try to create what I see,” Spiteri said.
Her tendency to collect and repurpose objects led her to choose the name “The Crow’s Nest.” Spiteri said she felt an affinity with the birds after reading that crows gather things.
Spiteri’s talent and handmade goods set the Crow’s Nest apart from similar shops, said Judy Davies, who helps Spiteri run her store.
“She’s got such good taste and she really arranges things beautifully,” Davies said.
Spiteri opened the store about two and a half years ago in her art studio at 41 E. Bacon St., she said. For her own pleasure, she had been decorating her studio windows with old furniture, as well as crows and sheep she made out of fabric and found objects. Some of her friends wanted to purchase the decorations, so they convinced her to turn her hobby into a business.
At first, the Crow’s Nest was only open on Fridays, because Spiteri was running it single-handedly. About a year after the store opened, Davies noticed the store. She thought it looked like a “nice cozy place,” and that perhaps such an interesting store should be open more than one day a week.
Davies introduced herself to Spiteri and volunteered to run the store on Saturdays. After some convincing, Spiteri agreed.
She worked for no pay, but Spiteri gave her creations Davies especially liked.
Although The Crow’s Nest wasn’t unsuccessful at its Bacon Street location, it suffered from low foot traffic and limited space. When a larger rental became available at 73 N. Howell St., Spiteri took the opportunity to improve her store’s size and location. The store opened in its new location Memorial Day weekend.
Spiteri held onto the old location as a workshop, where she makes her handmade items. She mentioned an additional use: Allie, an alley cat Spiteri adopted, continues to live there.
Spiteri said the Crow’s Nest is prospering at its new location. The crows and sheep, that were among her first products, keep selling out and she has had customers come in from as far as Detroit.
Thomas Rupp, a Hillsdale College senior and acquaintance of Spiteri who lives on the same block as the Crow’s Nest, said that his mother and aunt were very enthusiastic about the store when they came to town.
“They almost visited the store before they visited me,” he said.
These reactions have been rewarding for Spiteri.
“I really have always wanted a little store of my own,” she said. “It was a dream—and it’s happening. It’s a dream come true.”