Inside an unassuming storefront next door to the First National Bank in the Feather Hill Village, Bunnii Buglione is putting the finishing touches on something truly unique.
The Rowan Craft Boutique (53345 Main Road, Building II Suite 2, Southold), a new shop filled with creativity, will open its doors tomorrow, Aug. 15 with a special soft opening mixer. Ahead of its opening, the quirky and colorful Buglione enthusiastically shares her vision for the Rowan Craft Boutique, which sounds unlike anything else in the area.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” explains Buglione.
The Rowan Craft Boutique will have a selection of arts and crafts created and curated by Buglione, as well as other local artisans, like her boyfriend, Jarod Falek, who will showcase his handmade tomahawks, as well as his sister, Kristen Falek-Nieves, who makes jewelry, and many others.
“It’s a mish-mosh of everything that I’d have to travel to find that I’d have to bring out to the East End,” Buglione says. “I want people to walk in and feel comfortable. There’s something for everybody. There’s the soaps, the candles. I aso make my own laundry detergent.”
The boutique will also sell candies and chocolate, as well as biscotti from North Fork Flour Shoppe. The spacious store will also serve other purposes, as well, including an upstairs loft where Buglione plans to teach art workshops.
And in a side room filled with natural light, Buglione has enlisted Destiny Walston, an eyelash technician, to come to Rowan several days a week to do extensions. Walston, 23, travels throughout Long Island, sharing her eyelash expertise and even teaches others how to apply extensions.
“It’s very exciting being in Southold,” says Walston, who hails from Aquebogue. “I’ll be able to get a different audience out here.”
Buglione, who has worked in food service and hospitality around the North Fork and East End for years, decided to open the kind of business she would enjoy. She named the new boutique after her nephew and godson.
“The word ‘Rowan’ is also a type of branch and stands for prosperity, strength and purity,” she says. Buglione also looked to Rowan, the hero in Elbert Hubbard’s short story “A Message to Garcia,” for inspiration, who “puts his head down and gets his job done.”
Despite Buglione’s collaborative spirit, the Rowan Boutique feels like the distinct vision of someone who knows exactly what they’re going for.
“You’re going to be able to come in, get some dope candy, pick up a candle, maybe I’ll read your birth chart and maybe get some lashes.”
Check out Rowan Craft Boutique’s soft opening, with light refreshments, on Thursday, Aug. 15 from 6 to 9 p.m.. For more information, visit @rowan_craftboutique on Instagram.
