Markeshia Ricks Photo
Cavaliere and one of the first purchases she made with her mother.
Lorri Cavaliere had one wish — to own a store that sells the kinds of antiques and collectibles she has found at estate sales for 20 years.
That wish came true when her husband handed her the keys to 865 Whalley Ave.
The new facade at 865 Whalley Ave.
On Friday, Cavaliere will open her doors as one of the newest businesses in the village, Whimsies and Wishes, just in time for one of Westville’s signature events, ArtWalk weekend.
How did that wish come to be fulfilled? Cavaliere imparted this tale:
One night she was tired from a real estate sale and a bit irritated that her husband insisted they go out to dinner.
“He pulled down this side street and we got out and walked,” she recalled. “And we stopped to look in the window and he said, ‘Gee, this would make a nice shop,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ And he reached into his pocket and pulled out the key.”
A little neon for your bar.
Turns out he had bought the Westville Village building. They closed last Halloween. She’s set about transforming the former home of a Subway and then a brief family-owned sandwich shop into the store of her dreams.
Cavaliere has filled the space, which now looks nothing like the former (Subway) sandwich shop it was, with antiques and collectibles as well as custom displays. She has a custom-made display that she and her husband designed from old coffee tables that they sawed in half. She has a cabinet that her future son-in-law built for her out of reclaimed wood. And even in the bathroom there’s a chest of drawers from the 1800s that has been transformed into a sink.
“I’ve had years of dreaming and coming up with ideas,” she said. “I honestly, no lie, put things in boxes and displayed them and said someday when I have a store and now I’m pulling all this stuff.”
A Gibson Girl for your beauty room.
The store sells antiques and vintage art and jewelry. But also items for your bar, your children and even cards for your mom. (Mother’s Day is Sunday in case you forgot._ The store will do some consignment but only for high-end items, Cavaliere said.
“There are all kinds of unique looking, funky stuff in here,” said the Orange native, who now lives in Bethany.
Cavaliere has been buying and selling antiques and collectibles — whimsies if you will — for about 20 years and conducting estate sales for 15 years. She conducted the estate sale of the beloved late Yale football coach Carmen “Carm” Cozza; ladders gifted by the family are on display in the store
Cavaliere said she’s turning the estate sales part of her business over to her sister-in-law Dorothy Moore so she can give her attention to her dream.
Cavaliere, who also is an artist, has created a studio space for herself in the back of the former sandwich shop. If she doesn’t need it to store some of her many objects.
“I have enough stuff to keep me stocked for a few years,” she said. “There’s a basement here also and I’ve already been stuffing that.”
She said if you come into the store and you like what you see, but just can’t find what you’re looking for, she’ll have a jar at the front marked “wishes.” Just write on a slip of paper what you’re looking for and she’ll grant the wish by finding it for you.
“Either I have it — and trust me I have it — or I can get it,” she said. “I’m mixing old and new to appeal to everybody.”
A 17th Century icon of the Virgin and Child.
The mother of three — daughter Ashley is on air at KC 101 and a Westville neighbor — said she got the passion for antiques and collectibles from her parents, from whom she inherited her estate sales business. She’ll also have a space up front for a featured artist to work and showcase skills. Cavaliere said she fell in love with the business because antiques and collectibles is a gateway to research, and she loved picking up things and finding out more about them.
She said she’s excited to be opening on a big weekend for Westville and looks forward to being in the neighborhood with her cousin-in-law John Cavaliere, who is just a few doors down at Lyric Hall.
“He’s my husband’s first cousin, ” she said. “That is a nice little perk to be in the neighborhood. He’s a great guy.”
The feeling is mutual. John wrote in an email that “seeing an anonymous food chain in Westville retrench to make way for an intimate small business is especially heartening when it’s someone like Lorri, who is an experienced antique appraiser.
“Back in the day when the village was dotted with antique shops and restaurants, it was quite the destination,” he added. “The opening of Lorri’s shop along with the new Delaney’s may be a signal that a little renaissance here is at hand.”
Lizzy Donius of the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance said the neighborhood is “delighted” that Lorri Cavaliere decided to put her shop here.
“We have been following the transformation of the empty yellow storefront to a charming little corner shop, and can’t wait to see the inside,” Donius said in an email. “Lorri’s investment in Westville is helping to transform the village.
“Whimsies and Wishes joins recent arrivals like RAWA and Chip In A Bottle, and imminent arrivals like the Mew Haven Cat Cafe and Polished Hair and Beauty Bat,” she further said. “Construction at the former Delaney’s site is set to begin quickly after this year’s ArtWalk. A terrific restaurant is planned for the old First Niagara Bank.
“All of a sudden, space is hard to come by in the heart of Westville Village,” Donius added.
Lorrie Cavaliere said she hopes her store will evoke “the old-time glamour and an appreciation for old stuff.”
“I know the kids go for the IKEA stuff,” she said. “But this stuff is built so well. Get a couple of little unique pieces.”
