The West Village in the 80s was a colorful neighborhood; a hot spot for clubs, dancing, music… and dishes.
Right out of college, Julie Gaines, now 51, met her husband Dave Lenovitz, 54, in a small, family-owned glassware shop on West 15th street. He was working the register, she was shopping for dishes. They quickly fell in love not only with each other, but with American-made dishware.
Their shared passion led Lenovitz to leave his family shop and join Gaines on a new journey. They started at the Bowery, which in those days was all restaurant suppliers with basements full of china from old railroads, hotels, academic societies, and airlines.
Graduating college in Syracuse with a degree in art history, Gaines had a profound appreciation for these dishes that were a “slice of American history.” The pair dug through Bowery basements uncovering eclectic dishes that eventually led to their very own store.
“We were the first ones communicating that it was okay to mix and match. And then we were the first ones communicating that restaurant dishes for the home is actually a pretty great idea, because of the quality. If it stands up to a restaurant, then it’s going to stand up to your home. It was a little revolutionary.”
Fast forward 15 years and the dishes found a name and a brand – Fishs Eddy. At that point, Gaines and Lenovitz had several stores throughout New York City and had even started making their own patterns. “We thought, this is such beautiful dishware, it’s so sturdy, the silhouettes are so pretty, so let’s go to some of these factories in Buffalo, Ohio, and West Virginia and put our own design on these dishes.”
Gaines and Lenovitz ran into trouble when American manufactures started closing down. Suddenly they didn’t have American factories to produce their products. Scared about money and quality, they we’re stuck. “We thought, we’re gonna have to give this up” They were forced to make a move to off-shore resourcing, but brands like Homer Laughlin, Buffalo China, and Syracuse China still make up a huge part of the Fishs Eddy inventory. Gaines believes that keeping the dishes American made is important because it’s in their DNA. Even though they now source off-shore, they make sure the production quality of the dishes mimics that of American-made dishes.
Now, Fishs Eddy is scaled down to one store in the heart of the Flatiron District. Gaines is joined with a team of advisors and associates who help to develop the Fishs Eddy brand on a daily basis. Gaines is proof that even passion can help keep a business alive, even if the road is bumpy. “Its taken 30 years to do that whole arc of what we’ve done and come back to figure out how to do what we’ve always loved, and do it in a way to be something bigger.”
Gaines credits much of their success with being in the right place at the right time. The West Village in the 80s was the perfect place for their then revolutionary take on dishware to gain traction. Though neither Gaines nor Lenovitz had ever taken a business course, what kept them above water was their passion. “It just happened because we are doing what we love. And now we have a brand that people appreciate because they appreciate the authenticity in it.”