WINSTED — In the past seven years, the number of tenants at the Whiting Mills building, located on 100 Whiting St., has grown rapidly, transforming the old factory building into a thriving arts community.In the past month, three new tenants have opened shop at the historic building, which was the home to Winsted Hosiery from the late 1800s to the 1960s.There are now 41 tenants at the building, including artists, manufacturers, a fitness studio and retail stores. The three newest tenants are as follows:Justin McEnroeCertified Personal Trainer Justin McEnroe has moved into the building and is sharing Suite 312 with yoga teacher Jan Young.McEnroe was born and raised in Dover Plains, N.Y., and said that, as he grew up, he took an interest in fitness.“Staying healthy and being physically fit has always been a passion of mine,” McEnroe said. “I became a personal trainer because I like working with people to help them achieve a better quality of life. I find it very rewarding to help people achieve higher standards of health. Sometimes it’s as small as getting someone up and moving, other times it’s about getting someone to do 15 pull ups.”McEnroe said that he came up to Winsted because his fiance, Jessica, lives in town.Previously McEnroe worked as the Health and Wellness Coordinator at the Northwest YMCA for two years.McEnroe said that he is offering fitness classes at the studio and offers personal fitness training. For more information, including a schedule of classes, contact McEnroe at 860-201-6627 or email JVMAC29@aol.comThe Quilted EweFabric and knitting supplies are offered at The Quilted Ewe, located at Suites 304/306 at Whiting Mills.The shop opened in early December by New Hartford resident Mary Watt, who said that she has been quilting and knitting for more than 30 years.“I became interested in fabrics when I had my first child and I wanted to make a heirloom quilt,” Watt said. “I was at the Whiting Mills open studios event during the summer and I noticed a few open spaces. I also noticed that there isn’t anywhere within the immediate area where you can get supplies for quilting and knitting. Also, this has been a hobby of mine for many years and I wanted to find a way to get my hobby out of my house.”Watt’s store offers a wide variety of quilting and knitting supplies, including wool Watt made from the sheep that she owns.Watt adds that she plans on offering classes in quilting and the fiber arts in the near future.The store is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.For more information call 860-379-3260 or visit the store’s website at www.quiltedewe.com.HnL WoodworkingAfter 18 years of working as a woodworker, Sharon resident Brenda Hall has opened up her own studio, HnL Woodworking, at Suite 106/108 at Whiting Mills.Hall said that she is self taught and loves working with wood.“I just love to create things,” Hall said. “Mostly I am inspired by nature, but I am not limited to it. I am really drawn to wood. I have dabbled in working in other mediums, but I always come back to wood.”Hall creates a wide assortment of handmade furniture, cabinets and functional art pieces at her studio.“I like to call what I create functional art,” Hall said. “I can do and create anything as long as it’s made out of wood. I’ve even done a few pieces made from wood that I have found on the side of the road. To me, it’s rescued art and not firewood.”Hall does not keep regular business hours at her studio but can be reached at 860-480-1021 or by email at hnlwoodworking@gmail.com.She also has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HnLwoodworking.
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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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