New Hope is a charming hamlet that boasts cultural diversity, artistic imagination, live theater, fine dining and amazing antiques. Yet, in addition to peddling trendy paintings and vintage apparel, local merchants also indulge a more eclectic customer base: one that scours their quaint shops for rare commodities that range from mainstream-trendy to the downright macabre. Whatever your taste, New Hope is the place to find an infinite array of goods as diverse and colorful as the clientele in search of them.
Take gourmet cooking, for example. If dabbling in the culinary arts tickles your fancy, then you need to visit Olive-n-Grape, 11 A, W. Bridge St. Owned by Dawn and Manny Lorenzo (and managed by daughter Michelle), this wonderful specialty shop features an insane selection of imported and flavored olive oils, dark and white balsamic vinegars, pastas, flavored sea salts, spices and gourmet foods.
Patrons can sample these unusual oils and vinegars direct from immaculate metal cisterns and create clever marinade combinations designed to compliment any dish. Rare, yet reasonably priced, oils with flavors such as “Citrus Habañero,” “Sun-Dried Tomatoe & Parmesan Garlic,” “Butter” and “Bacon” prove to satisfy the palate and not empty the pocket.
“What you do is take a cup and taste, and you do it again, and again and again,” said Dawn Lorenzo. “Mix the balsamic vinegars with your choice of olive oil and you’ll know what your special blend of marinade tastes like before you leave our store.”
Manny Lorenzo ventures overseas at various times during the year and travels the length of Italy to hand-select products from a number of his carefully chosen business contacts.
Find out more about Olive-n-Grape at www.olivengrape.com or call the shop at 215-862-5464.
Oils are fun, but what if you’re looking for a hand-made, long-horned circumcision mask? Lucky you! Africa Endeavor, 102 S. Main St., is the place to pick one up.
Featuring African and Moroccan art, the shop seems to come alive when one walks through the door. Hand-carved statues and dramatic masks provide a sense of magical animation that transports the shopper to an untamed land thousands of miles away.
“Our hand-made masks are works of art from the west coast of Africa,” said store owner Mohammad Musbahi. “The circumcision mask is spiritual in nature, and is designed to protect those who endure the procedure.”
Diverse in meaning, each mask and statue represents a dance or ceremony that supports power, prosperity, victory at battle and bountiful harvests. The shop also carries a large selection of beautiful ethnic jewelry, ceramics, blankets and other sundries.
Interested in finding out more? Contact Musbahi at 267-740-2253.
Does “dark and macabre” pique your curiosity? The Creeper Gallery, 7 W. Bridge St., is definitely the place for you. Packed from floor to ceiling with Gothic fine art and other “peculiars,” this Victorian gallery has an aesthetic that revolves around anything creepy, ominous and unusual.
Owners Danielle Deveroux and D.L. Marian offer a unique gallery experience that allows one to get in touch with his or her dark side. Items on display include a small boy’s partial skeleton, baby dolls in locked cages, rouge taxidermy, creepy life-sized figures and a quiet “viewing room,” complete with a decedent laid out in her coffin.
“Zak Bagans, host of the Travel Channel’s ‘Ghost Adventures’ is purchasing numerous items from our store,” said Jon Palestini, gallery staffer. “He’s opening a haunted museum in Vegas and is showcasing a large portion of our inventory.”
Evidently, The Creeper Gallery and its contents have a reputation that far exceeds the city limits of picturesque New Hope.
More about The Creeper Gallery can be found at www.thecreepergallery.com, or by calling 484-HOW-VILE.
Is pure vintage the name of your game? Then Love Saves the Day, 1 Main St., should be on your shopping list. It’s probably no coincidence the initials “LSD” are in the name of this quirky shop because part of Love Saves the Day is a true psychedelic sanctuary. Full of nostalgia and vintage clothing, the shop was originally opened in Manhattan in 1966.
Love Saves the Day also features items from other fashionable eras and displays its vast inventory in the form of a colorful floor-to-ceiling collage of period styles that shoppers can spend hours sifting through. Vintage dresses and fur coats wallpaper the perimeter of the store, while accessories, wigs and scarves dangle from the ceiling. Antique toys rest alongside glass display cases that house costume jewelry, vinyl records and aged Playboy magazines.
“Speaking of display cases, the one I’m standing behind was in the movie ‘Desperately Seeking Susan,’” said store manager Stasia. “Madonna actually leaned against this very case in the film, and fans still come into the store to pay homage to it. One fan actually licked the case.”
Apparently, it looks like anyone and everyone can have a fantastic experience at Love Saves the Day. Learn more about the shop at www.facebook.com/lsdnewhope or call 215-862-1399.
Mind you, this is a small sampling of the endless oddities and surprises hidden within the nooks, niches and cubbyholes of New Hope’s eclectic shops. In order to truly grasp the assortment of odd wonders tucked away here, one must come to town and be prepared to have a marvelous time searching for something that can’t be found anywhere else. Whether it’s considered freak, geek or chic, the merchants of New Hope are sure to have it hidden somewhere.