Moulinette opens in Wiscasset

Joyful things
Fri, 05/20/2016 - 9:15am

Story Location:
60 Main Street
Wiscasset, ME 04578
United States

    Wiscasset just keeps getting better. Red's Eats has long made the town a destination for a good lobster roll, and there are other eating establishments and shops in the small downtown area to keep visitors entertained.

    In the past month, two noteworthy and fun new shops have opened their doors. BIRCH Home Furnishings and Gifts, at 72 Main Street, had its ribbon-cutting ceremony last month and now, just a few doors down, Moulinette at 60 Main Street has opened its doors.

    Featuring décor, skin care and unusual gifts and sundries from around the globe, Moulinette is the newest addition to the rapidly expanding list of unique shops in town. Margot Sullivan, who was formerly in the space next door, has moved her shop into the new space and filled it with “joyful things.”

    “A lovely woman customer came in, put her hand on my arm and in a soft voice said, ‘Your shop is full of things that bring me joy,’” Sullivan said.

    Sullivan's best friend, a German shepherd named Mulligan, can usually be found in the shop with her. “Mulligan has his own Facebook page because people come in the shop just to visit him,” she said. “He ends all of his postings with 'I’m a good boy.'  Because he hears that all day long.”

    You know there's something special about the space the minute you walk through the door and see the freshly painted embossed vintage tin adorning the ceiling and half the walls. One wall is covered in sheetrock. Underneath that is more embossed tin. “An electrician came in to do some rewiring, and he found a tin wall behind the sheetrock,” Sullivan said. Otherwise the entire space would have been lined with tin.

    Sullivan had a shop in Gorham, Tinsel Bright Trading Co., for seven years before coming to Wiscasset.

    Four years ago she came to Wiscasset on a whim, and spent a night at the Marston House http://www.marstonhouse.com/about.html. She came back two years later and stayed there again. That's when she fell in love with the town.

    The shop space was available then, and the owners of Marston House were selling their little cottage in town. It was serendipitous. Sullivan bought the cottage and rented the space for her shop. Now she and her bestie walk to work every day.

    Sullivan is selective about her inventory. She does a lot of research before she buys anything, and nothing in Moulinette is tested on animals.

    The luxurious bed linens are from a company called Coyuchi and are 100 percent organic: linen sheets from Portugal, made from flax grown in France, wool blankets from Canada and cotton blankets from Germany. There are no chemicals, dyes or starches used in the production of any of the fine linens.

    A line of skincare products, Farm Aesthetics, was developed by a woman for cancer patients at a Rhode Island hospital to help heal their skin. It's all natural, all herbal, used in Four Seasons spas. “It's like organic food for your face,” Sullivan said.

    A men's line of personal products, Duke Cannon, is on display in the shop, and just seeing the packaging of the 'Big Ass Brick of Soap' and the Bloody Knuckles hand repair salve gives you an idea of the brains behind the marketing of the product. And a percentage of the proceeds is contributed to U.S. veterans causes.

    Moulinette also carries fair trade handmade towels and wraps from a company called Creative Women that partners with artisans in Ethiopia and Morocco who work in women-led small businesses and family enterprises.

    You'll find recipe books including “The French Laundry Cookbook” and “Bouchon,” both by Thomas Keller, and other hot sellers from the New York Times bestseller lists including “The Kinfolk Table” and “The Kinfolk Home.”

    There's a line of Fishs Eddy vintage style glasses and dinnerware. The pieces are pretty, practical, and whimsical, and there are candles, soaps, lotions and other coveted items from France, England, Portugal and Italy.

    And if that's not enough, Moulinette will help fulfill your wedding gift wish lists by providing gift registries. Just schedule an appointment for personalized service.

    Sullivan said her father was instrumental in getting her set up in her new shop. “He built shelves and hung the doors to the back, put up all the tracks for the lighting and built the screen door for the shop,” she said. “This just wouldn’t have happened without him.

    “And the wonderful people and other businesses in this town have been so supportive! Some people popped in yesterday to tell me that they were back into their summer home after being away all winter, and just wanted to say hi.  That so touches me.”

    On opening day, May 13, and over the course of the first weekend at Moulinette, Sullivan said there were lots of familiar faces stopping in saying they’d been watching the windows and waiting for the shop to open. “And to see Mulligan, of course.”

    The shop will be open seven days a week, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.

    Call 207-687-8103 to talk to Margot about her joyful things, or visit Moulinette's Facebook page.

    Or just stop in to see Mulligan. He’s a good boy.