NORTH CANAAN — “New England Girl” Nicole Goncalves has moved her business from the Lime Rock barn where it began (Dec. 13, 2012, Lakeville Journal) to a storefront in North Canaan. Goncalves’ business story is one of paradox.She didn’t really want retail space, but found it difficult to meet with clients in her busy workshop. Her focus is on repurposing old furniture, but she likes to incorporate colors unheard of in their time periods. She also loves to do mash-ups of parts, or to marry, for example, interesting reclaimed wood to vintage table legs.A few months ago when The Lakeville Journal showcased her fledgling business in the Lime Rock barn, there was no heat and no easy access for clients.“If you want to do another story, that would be great, because I don’t want people to be confused about where we are,” she said last week.The prior story noted Goncalves, now a Falls Village resident, was in the process of moving into a North Canaan storefront (at 6 East Main St., across from Stop & Shop). She is now settled in. The sprawling building, home for decades to a florist shop, was one Goncalves and her new husband, Vinnie (they were married in September), looked at a long time ago.“But I was so busy with custom projects, I decided to stay in the barn. One day, I watched one of my regular clients struggling to get into the building, and I realized I needed to be somewhere safer for them.”In North Canaan, she has several workspaces (including an old greenhouse where lots of large projects can be underway at once) and a resident squirrel.In the spirit of going with the flow, she has arranged two beautiful showroom spaces with her work, and consignment items. Currently, she is selling Goatboy Soaps (handmade in New Milford) and wood turnings by Jay Trotta, of Artfull Furniture in East Canaan.The retail side is quickly catching on, and Goncalves set a goal for herself to try to put at least one new thing, either found or made, out on the floor daily. Her sources are tag and estate sales, flea markets and www.craigslist.com, and now that she is becoming well-known, people contact her.She is always looking for new vendors to fill consignment space with locally made products, ideas from customers — and wood.“Definitely say I am always looking for any kind of wood,” she said. The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at any other time by appointment. Email thenewenglandgirl@gmail.com or call 860-453-4315.The public is invited to an open house party on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 19.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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