If you open the door to The Lady Stripper store expecting to find a woman refinishing furniture, you will be surprised to see a room filled with a wide variety of items for sale instead. Located in the former Gorham Grind space, the store’s offerings include unique jewelry, vintage glassware and linens, graniteware, primitives, and interesting used clothing.
Photo credit Kathy CorbettLynne Wykes, who has 34 years of experience refinishing furniture, is the owner of this new business where vendors display merchandise. Currently 13 vendors rent space and keep the proceeds from their sales made in the group shop. In addition to managing the business, Wykes contracts to refinish furniture off-site in her Naples home.
Wykes married a long-time game warden for the Naples district and moved there from New Hampshire in 2015. She had learned furniture refinishing while living in Connecticut. A friend suggested she call her business The Lady Stripper as Jack the Stripper, another refinisher, was just down the street. She has used that name ever since.
Wykes does not do refinishing in her Gorham location because of limited space and the smell of her materials. She will go to customers’ homes, however, to give free estimates. If they fit in her car, she takes the pieces to Naples where she works on them during the first part of each week.
Wykes is teaching her husband the art of refinishing so he can help her maintain that business, although they plan to leave Naples for a home nearer the store. One of her two daughters is a finisher in Lyndonville. Her son is serving in the Navy.
“The store has been busy ever since I opened,” Wykes said. “We are filled to capacity and have a waiting list of vendors.” Vendors such as Chris Veazie and his wife Katie, of The Pole Barn Furnishings, use The Lady Slipper as a retail outlet for their products and a place to showcase their work. Veazie, who custom makes home decorations and furniture, previously reached out to customers primarily through Facebook and email.
Photo credit Roger MarchandThe Lady Stripper is located at 18 South Street and is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. For more information, call 805-4039.