A historic house in downtown Wiscasset is now the home of Plain Goods, a lifestyle store offering clothing, leather goods, and antique furnishings rooted in timeless design, ethical production, and respect for craftsmanship.

Located at 54 Water St., the Wiscasset store is the second location for owners Michael DePerno and Andrew Fry, seasonal residents of Waldoboro, who launched Plain Goods’ first location in New Preston, Connecticut in 2015.

“Our store is a reflection of all the things that we care about and see value in things of beauty, but also functionality,” DePerno said. “Quality is key, so our intention is to have people buy things they love and to keep these things for years to come.”

The shop offers a curated mix of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, as well as shoes, bags, antique furnishings, and vintage accessories. Many items come from their private label line, produced in small factories in Europe and by local craftspeople in Maine and beyond.

“We believe antiques have a story,” DePerno said. “You can see it in the patina of things, in the quality of how things were made long ago. That sense of substance and timelessness is at the backbone of what we do.”

DePerno, having 35 years of experience as a shopkeeper of stores in New York City and California, felt the strength of the brand came from his and Fry’s two distinct backgrounds.

“The merging of our two worlds and our two talents was about Andrew’s marketing background for fashion brands … and my experience with being a shopkeeper and with being an interior designer,” DePerno said. “We very much are drawn to the same things and we have a very similar point of view about how we live, about how we dress, about quality. And so it was a very seamless and very easy partnership to create.”

For the pair, having a brand that emphasized quality over consumerism was an essential aspect of their business venture. Fry said that the relationships they have with different manufacturers and local craftspeople are rooted in small, considered production and have been forged through personal experiences.

“A lot of these partnerships are rooted in longstanding, personal relationships in our respective fields,” Fry said. “They are from comings and goings, either through the store or through friends.”

Since its inception, the Plain Goods brand has been recognized in publications such as Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, Architectural Digest, and more.

DePerno and Fry said they have been longtime visitors to Maine and have recently begun the process of restoring a saltwater farm in Waldoboro. They said they were drawn to Wiscasset’s character and community spirit. When they saw that the historic downtown storefront was available, they seized the opportunity.

“I think the community as a whole is very appealing,” Fry said. “But also, there’s such a concentration of creative people that is compelling.”

DePerno and Fry said they plan on expanding their private label collection, which will include the continuation of their own sweater line from Scotland for the upcoming season, and bringing in more knitwear and children’s clothing from Italy.

Plain Goods is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and Sunday by chance or appointment. For more information, call 882-1438or go to plain-goods.com. Plain Goods can also be found on Instagram at @plaingoodsshop.

This article appears through a content-sharing agreement with the Lincoln County News.