Tre Ragazze—

‘Three Girls’ Hope To Add More Vitality

To Sandy Hook’s Retail Revitalization

By Kaaren Valenta

Flowers fill the window boxes of the Victorian house at 5 Glen Road in Sandy Hook center; a fountain lends its charm to the garden tucked behind the white picket fence.

The setting draws visitors into Tre Ragazze, a new shop with an eclectic mix of gifts and accessories, both personal and for the home.

“The name Tre Ragazze means ‘three girls’ in Italian and we think of it as three girlfriends,” said Lisanne Marie Acquefreda Giordano — known as Lisa Giordano to her friends — who operates the shop with her two best friends, Kathy Gleason Buda and Linda McIntyre.

Part of the revitalization of Sandy Hook Center spearheaded by building contractor Michael Porco, the new shop has been open since May 1. But when Lisa Giordano first looked at the building in February, she was not convinced that this was a great location.

“I looked at a tired Victorian home that was rented out as two apartments and said, ‘Kathy, I’m not seeing it,’” Ms Giordano said. “But Kathy immediately started her pitch.”

“I’ve been in Sandy Hook for 20 years this year and I’m excited by what is happening here,” Ms Buda said. “A friend at Mocha [Coffee Shop] told me that this place was going from residential to retail and I thought it would be a great location with the coffee shop, a restaurant opening next door [in the former Red Brick Store], the farmers’ market, and the new sidewalks. This whole area is being revitalized.”

While the work on the building was being completed, both inside and out, the three women set off to attend trade shows in Atlanta, Boston, and New York City.

“We all took our different tastes and bought some of the most unique gifts, accessories, and home decorating items that are great quality and well priced,” Ms Giordano said. “I worked on the business aspects. I had kind of thought that I’d own the business and they’d run it, but I can’t stay away.”

Lisa Giordano has been a real estate agent and manger for 20 years; prior to that she worked in retail sales for eight years. Kathy Buda is also a real estate agent as well as a professional singer who is with the popular area band Charisma.

Linda McIntrye started out as a stockbroker but left the profession to raise her children and began to discover some of her hidden talents. She made clothes, pottery, knitted sweaters, made all of her custom kitchen cabinetry, and also owns Classic Garden Design.

“The big thing is that we have distinctly different tastes,” Ms Giordano said. “Kathy has a funky style, Linda is more traditional. We own a lot of the products.”

One of the biggest sellers since the doors opened several weeks ago has been scarf watches, knock-offs of the $800 watches featured on Oprah. “These are fun,” Kathy Buda said. “The bands are $8, the watches $12.

“Almost everyone who walks in here says, ‘We are so glad that you are here,’” she said.

“We want to be the place that everyone goes to when they want to buy a gift,” Lisa McIntyre added. “You don’t have to go to the mall. You don’t have to keep gift paper in your car’s glove box for last-minute gifts because we will wrap it, too.”

Jewelry, ponchos, handbags, and other accessories fill one of the rooms. Prices range from $15 to $30 for handmade silk scarves. The most expensive item is $50 for a shawl poncho.

There is a changing display of Italian pottery, pewter, and silver serving dishes, lamps, glassware, interesting china, napkin rings, serving utensils, candles and candlesticks, table linens, and other accessories.

 “We don’t want this to be a museum where people come and look and go home,” Kathy Buda said. “We change the inventory constantly to keep the place fresh and interesting.”

Lisa Giordano agreed.

“This is the kind of place you need to stop by frequently to see what new items have come in,” she said. “We will be the place to go for table linens. We carry Xochi linens with napkins in four-color combinations. We have things you won’t see in other stores.

“We like to sell the inventory quickly and keep it moving so we keep our prices down,” she said. “But above all, everyone who comes in wants to be in a good mood, and we help them. It’s a fun place where people are happy or looking to cheer themselves up with a little something.”

Tre Ragazze is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, Sunday from 11 to 5. Closed Monday. For more information call 426-3373.