Tags: Design & Decor gather suzanne martin katonah home goods homewares In the meantime, she’ll keep busy stocking shelves, sourcing products, and developing a combined Rubysue/Gather online store. I am very lucky to be here and on the board helping to plan events.”Ĭome spring, the Chamber’s monthly Katonah Art Walks will resume, which Martin is looking forward to. “Even when I’m not at work, I’m working,” she says. Martin does all the buying for both Gather and Rubysue, as well the photography and social media, and running the home goods store.
And she is always on the lookout for new products and local artisans. Martin also carries carafes, cocktail glasses, and furniture from Danish company Ferm Living runners, napkins, and dish towels from Lithuanian brand Linen Tales dinnerware, glasses, and linen sheets from Hawkins New York and vegan, botanical skincare products from Palermo Body. Some of the local artisanal products Gather stocks include hand-dipped beeswax candles from Newburgh-based Alysia Mazzella, cutting boards from Hudson-based KHEM Studios, and ceramics from Erica Recto. I definitely want to work with more handmade, small-batch products, not mass-produced things that you could get on Amazon or in bigger box stores.” “I look for things that resonate with me and match the vibe of the shop from companies whose ethics I believe in. “I am sourcing a lot of things from the Hudson Valley as well as from all over the world,” Martin says. Martin carries handblown glassware, ceramics, candles, straw baskets from Africa, stonewashed linens-all with a focus on sustainability and ethical working conditions. It’s a nice addition to Katonah without overlapping with anyone else that is in town.” “A lot of people have moved here from the city and they decorate in more minimal style.
“Everything is very fair in color or white and ethereal,” she says. Martin’s breezy, beachy, modern style is a change-up from the big, dark wooden furniture and formal New England horse farm stylings found in much of Westchester. Entering it feels like you’re being transported to a little village by the sea, it’s so special.” The door is on the side, down a little alley. “It reminded me of being by the beach, so I brought that vibe here,” she says. In a stroke of serendipity, the retail space that opened up fit Martin’s vision perfectly with terracotta floor tiles and stucco walls. “Beautiful objects and pottery-things you want to give as gifts or just have around in your own home.” “This spot came available, and I’ve always wanted to get into more of a lifestyle shop/home decor, but more item-driven rather than a whole interior design,” she says. She has owned Rubysue, a women’s clothing boutique right next door to Gather, for 22 years, and she’s also on the board of the Katonah Chamber of Commerce.
Martin isn’t new to retail, or to Katonah. “Montauk, Malibu, seaside Italy, or Portugal.” “My inspiration is villages by the sea,” says Suzanne Martin of the concept for her home goods boutique Gather, which opened in Katonah last October.