CHANGING SPACES
SEVERAL ESTABLISHED BUSINESSES SETTLE INTO NEW DIGS JUST IN TIME FOR THE SEASON
BY MARY LANCASTER + INDEPENDENT WRITER
As vacation season nears, visitors to Nantucket may discover that some of their favorite shops, galleries and other businesses have relocated since last summer. Although the moves were prompted by various reasons, all appear to be working out on the positive side. And because the relocations are still within the downtown area, patrons should have little difficulty finding the new addresses.

Those close to the business industry share similar thoughts on why merchants, art purveyors and some real estate professionals have decided to take this action, often after being in the same familiar spot for decades.

"I think people moving off the wharf need bigger spaces and want a longer season. Being closer to Main Street is seen as progress in their business plan," said Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce executive director Tracy Bakalar, who stressed that her comments are not leveled at any particular landlord. "I also think a lot of times you see changes when leases come up at the same time, so you see some renegotiations of leases and if the tenant doesn't like the terms of the new lease you see some changes. "

Frenchy Doucette, who handles commercial sales for The Maury People, agrees with Bakalar about why businesses relocate to the center of town. "They feel they are bettering their opportunities just by the number of people walking by their shops every day," he said.

Henry Wyner, the Director of Retail Properties for Nantucket Island Resorts (NIR), which within the last two years has purchased the majority of downtown retail properties, said that, typically, when proprietors move off the wharves or side streets into the core area it reflects their desire for a year-round location with greater space to expand inventory. There is another benefit to such action, he noted.

"When some of the older establishments move uptown it allows for more new stores, which is good," Wyner said.

What follows is a directory outlining the relocations that have taken place since last summer and the basic reasons behind the moves. While the greatest shifts have been moves for retail stores and art galleries, real estate offices have also undergone changes of address.

+J Pepper Frazier Real Estate, formerly in a split office at 28 Centre and 8 India streets, moved into 19 Centre St., which was the former location of Best of the Beach. J Pepper Frazier Jr. said his family owns numbers 7, 9, 13 and 28 Centre St. as well as 19 Centre, which was deemed a perfect building to allow the company to have the business under one roof, a spacious conference room, greater comfort for clients and a better presence as its business expanded.

+AtlanticEast Real Estate recently moved from 8 Williams Lane between Sparks Avenue and Pleasant Street to 5 North Water St. to double its space, enhance parking and be able to hire additional brokers. The 5 North Water St. address is the long-time home of Denby Real Estate, whose principals decided to change to a limited sales business with primary focus on consulting and appraisals, maintaining a small building on the property while leasing the main building to AtlanticEast.

+In the art world, Mary Beth Splaine decided last year not to renew her two-plus-decades-long lease at 21 Old South Wharf and relocated her gallery to 3 India St. for greater visibility and, with heat, a longer season. Gallery Blue has moved into Splaine's location.

+Expressions of Don Freedman, at 7 Old South Wharf for 25 years, took over 14 Centre St. next to the Methodist Church, where he will gain foot traffic and more room for more merchandise. Sara Boyce relocated her Brigham Gallery from up a steep flight of stairs at 50 Main St. to a spacious building at ground level on the corner of Centre Street and Academy Lane on the side of the Jared Coffin House.

+Retail-wise, when Frazier took over the Best of the Beach location, store owner Elaine Martin started looking for new digs and found a good spot at the corner of Easy Street and Straight Wharf. That building was the former site of Island Pursuit for 22 years, but last fall Nantucket Island Resorts decided to split it into two retail spaces. Island Pursuit has moved to 42 Main St., home of owner Michael Valentino's other store, Chappy, where both lines will be sold and where he will now pay only one rent. Next door to Best of the Beach will be Shoreline Designs, a shop Joyce Kramer ran at 34 Straight Wharf for 15 years. Both stores will enjoy the foot traffic from the Hy- Line and streetside parking, as well as in a portion of the Grand Union lot. The building is now equipped with a handicap-access ramp.

+Chocolate...lingerie moved from the basement level at 34 Centre St. to a street level unit at 44 Centre St. with more retail area that is more easily accessible and with larger display windows.

+Ceri, an upscale women's clothier formerly at 13 Centre St., moved to the larger 25 Centre St. and Barrington Antiques moved from 0 Washington St. (the side of Frank Sylvia's building) into Ceri's vacant space on popular Petticoat Row.

+L'Ile de France, the French general store owned by Michel and Joyce Berruet, moved from 18 Federal St. to

Frazier Real Estate's former 8 India St. location after deciding against renewing their lease with NIR. They made that decision because the business is only run by the couple and they did not want to be held to a seven-day per week schedule during the season. In their place now on Federal Street is Round the Horn, moving uptown from Easy Street, selling imported decorative goods.

+Although she did not return calls, Paula Gonfrade, owner of Gypsy, a chic women's clothing store upstairs at 47 Main St., will move into 20 Federal St., formerly 20 Federal Antiques, and is renovating the sizeable building. Gypsy's latest magazine ads list 20 Federal as her store's new location, but work on the building is still underway.

Wyner said NIR holds approximately 100 retail units and nearly all are spoken for, with the exception of the second floor space at 44 Main St., which housed Made on Nantucket through last year, but which is currently being considered for either office or retail use.

There is no way to predict how the island's business scene may change again for next year's season if privately owned buildings such as Mitchell's Book Corner at the corner of Main and Orange streets, the Sylvia building at Main and Washington streets and the Peach Trees building at 19 Main St., all on the market for more than a year, sell to people who want to start entirely new ventures in those locations. It is all part of the changing

face of Nantucket. I