Misfit Bazaar owner Carrie Heffernan
BY JANICE LLANES FABRY
A new luxe wellness boutique, Misfit Bazaar is a refreshing addition to Purchase Street. Owner Carrie Heffernan has curated “good-for-you and good-for-the-earth” products that have wellness, skincare, women’s apparel, and accessories covered in a feel-good marketplace.
“I want to bring awareness to the importance of women creating a balanced lifestyle and taking the time to nurture self-love and self-compassion. As a mom, I set the tone in our house. Taking care of myself allows me to love my family fully,” said the longtime Rye resident and mother of five.
An entrepreneurial spirit and retail sensibility run in her blood. Her grandmother owned an art gallery, and her mother converted a historic bank building outside of Baltimore, where she grew up, into four boutiques.
“As a child, I got a toy cash register for Christmas and used to pretend that I owned a Blockbuster video store. During the summers, my siblings and I worked at my mother’s shops,” she recalled.
Heffernan is just now connecting the dots between her family history and her “passion project”. Her father, who sits on the Board at PricewaterhouseCoopers and offers consultation to small business owners, has also played a significant role.
“I’m starting to realize how influential they all were in my starting a business,” she said.
Heffernan and her husband Jamie, who grew up in Rye and co-owns Empire Residential Real Estate, moved here in 2006. Her landlord at Misfit Bazaar is his aunt, Beth Dolce, whose husband had his office in the very space at 83 Purchase Street that Misfit Bazaar took over on January 1.
Alas, Jamie tested positive for Covid on January 2 and ten days later, so did she.
“We were in lockdown the entire month. Now that we’re all healthy, in hindsight, I can say that having the down time to set up the store from my home office turned out to be less challenging than having to do it while taking the kids to all their activities,” she said.
As far as the store’s curious name, Heffernan identified with “misfit’s” affirmative definition, “a person whose behavior or attitude sets them apart from others.” Then one evening at dinner with her family, she juxtaposed it with “bazaar.”
“I said it out loud and my husband and the kids gave me the green light,” she remarked.
After a few fits and starts due to February’s snowstorms, Misfit Bazaar opened on March 11 to unseasonably warm weather and plenty of foot traffic. Potential customers paraded in and out of the store ooing and aahing over the eclectic merchandise and the “boho chic feel”.
Inspired by Pinterest, Heffernan renovated the old Sarza space and decorated with a modern and natural West coast aesthetic. “I wanted a safe, cozy space where no one would feel intimidated,” she explained. The shop has a neutral palate, white oak furnishings, and a whitewashed oak floor.
The products that line the shelves come from all over the world. Not your run of the mill Amazon or big box store merchandise, nearly all of Misfit Bazaar’s brands are women-owned and available in a wide price range.
By way of skincare, Konjac sponges from Korea are made from nourishing mineral extracts that deeply cleanse and exfoliate. The exclusive Francis Prescott line contains no synthetics, parabens, or harmful chemicals. While a solid tri-balm cleanses, exfoliates, and moisturizes in one single step, a tri-spritz hydrates, strengthens, and conditions. Other lines boast cactus face polishes and coffee body scrubs.
Health and wellness products include an array of reed diffusers and crystals, women’s tea, and charcoal natural whitening toothpaste. Also available are such palate pleasers as Manchego and smoked gouda wine chips, as well as Flor de Maria CBD chocolates.
A selection of apparel includes Yamini Booj dresses, kaftans, alpaca sweaters, luxuriously soft T-shirts and stretch knit bamboo classic pajamas. Heffernan is eager to introduce Rye shoppers to Atelier Soler apparel from London. The shop carries dazzling jewelry and fun accessories, such as handmade brooches to pin on packable felt hats. An Italian line of fine jewelry, Sorellina, will be in the store in time for Mother’s Day.
Customers can also create special Misfit Kits for themselves or as an inspired gift. Free, local same-day delivery is available.
“I like to shop and share what I love with friends and family,” she noted. “Everything I have in the store I’ve tried myself and love.”
<Misfit Bazaar is open Monday–Saturday from 10-6, and Sunday from 11-4.
Call 305-4734, visit misfitbazaar.com, or follow the store on Instagram and Facebook.
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Misfit Bazaar owner Carrie Heffernan
