Bay Spring Shop Caters to Customers Who 'Want a Pony'

Have you ever wanted a pony? 

Coleen Silvia describes the tiny Barrington shop -- Co-Op 13 -- she operates with her daughter, Carla Gilbert, at 185 Washington Road in Bay Spring with that analogy.

“You know, you really want a pony but you really didn’t need a pony,” Silvia said. 

That’s the sort of vintage, hand-made or altered merchandise they sell, she said. It’s one-of-a-kind jewelry, fabrics, furniture, textiles and other recycled and repurposed gifts and accessories.

“Pretty things you really don’t need but you really want,” Silvia said.

For example, a blackboard on the wall advertises long statement necklaces, vintage lap blankets, wired hair ties, mirrored antique windows, earth-color scarves, vintage charm necklaces and solid-wood furniture pieces in the store right now.

The merchandise changes at the whim of Silvia and Gilbert, who may head on up to the Brimfield antique and collectibles show in Massachusetts on a Friday with products from the shop and return Sunday to set up the store again.

Silvia has worked in retail most of her life, including six years as a sales manager for Macy’s. Gilbert comes to retail as a former college chef with Chartwell food service by way of Kids Junction in Barrington.

She was a guest instructor at the day care center and fell in love with Barrington, said Silvia, who calls Fairhaven, Mass, home. One thing led to another and she and her daughter, who lives in Providence, opened their store in the small Bay Spring plaza on the corner of Bay Spring Avenue and Washington Road about three months ago. The Blue Moon hair salon is right next door.

Both women make most of the merchandise in the shop, especially Gilbert. Silvia tends to run the store day to day starting about 11 am.

“I never thought I’d get back into retail after I left Macy’s,” she said.

But then along came their “pony project.”