New antique shop adds to Sea Cliff’s charm

Village Green Antiques finds success in first few months

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Craving the calm of Main Street America, Amy Bagnato, an antiques dealer from Port Washington, set up her new shop, Village Green Antiques, on Sea Cliff Avenue just two months ago.

“I missed Main Street America,” she said. “I had a vintage kitchens shop in Port Washington back in the 90s, and I needed a new home base.”

Bagnato, who has worked in the retail and wholesale antiques business for almost 25 years, said Sea Cliff was her first-choice location to open her new retail space because she had previously lived in the village for three years.

“The town has been awesome, and the warm welcome I’ve received has been amazing,” she said. “People are coming in to introduce themselves, and to tell me how happy they are that I’m here, and they’re buying stuff — who can ask for anything else?”

Village Green Antiques opened a few days before the annual Mini Mart, by which point the store was half full. Now, her collections fill the store. Most of the products come from Long Island and upstate New York.

“I lived in the Catskill Mountains for eight years, and I shopped the entire time while I was in business up there,” she said. “Most antique dealers shop wherever we go.”

The owner said the store specializes in antique jewelry from the Georgian era all the way up to the 80s. “I mixed it up here, because I like rustic and farmhouse [items], and Victorian and industrial [items], so it’s a combination of all of it.”

The store also offers rhinestone costume jewelry, and a wide variety of antique gold charms from the Victorian era, some of which were converted from stickpins. Buyers can also find sterling silver charms from the 1970s, which Bagnato mix and matches on necklaces.

Currently, Village Green Antiques offers an extensive collection of vintage and antique Christmas items, which Bagnato said have been “flying off the shelves.”

“That is definitely special because when you go antiques shopping you don’t always see the old Christmas [items], so I’m offering a lot of it now,” she added. Shoppers can choose from an assortment of antique ornaments and colorful tinsel, among other holiday items.

Bagnato had a busy weekend at the shop when visitors from the Holiday House tour on Dec. 2 and Shop Sea Cliff Day on Dec. 3 flooded the village’s streets.

“There were many people from out of town who were on the tour that came on recommendation from one of the homeowners who said that there was a new antique shop in town,” she said. As a result, the store was packed. “I was surprisingly delighted by the amount of people that came through.”

Shop Sea Cliff Day, she said, was also “shockingly busy.”

“Local residents came out to support the shops, and everyone came into the stores to buy a little something for the holidays,” she added.

Being the new shop on the block, Bagnato is looking forward to continuing the success the store has experienced in the last two months. She said she is preparing for Valentine’s Day, and will offer a wide selection of “sweetheart” antiques, such as memento and photo lockets. For the spring season, the store will offer garden antiques.

For more information, follow the store’s social media pages on Facebook and Instagram at “Village Green Antiques.”