Looking for a place to unwind, where you can browse through all sorts of beautiful funky stuff, relax with a great cup of coffee and a snack, and be welcomed like kinfolk? Come to Port Ewen, right across the Route 9W bridge from Kingston, and stop in at Ball & Claw: Antiques, Design, Coffee. “Every sort of person comes to the shop,” owner Maria Philippis says. “It’s very inclusive. You can get a coffee, a charming card, a piece of estate jewelry, a chair, a painting….Browsing is free, and it’s a nice spot to spend some time.”
Photo by Rowen Smith.
“You can get a coffee, a charming card, a piece of estate jewelry, a chair, a painting… Browsing is free, and it’s a nice spot to spend some time.” – Owner, Maria Philippis
Philippis learned hospitality and business from her Greek father, who supported the family by working as a topflight waiter when she was young. “Working with my dad for years in restaurants taught me a million lessons,” she says.” He passed away in 2010, but his words ring in my ears all the time. He was extremely intuitive about business, customer service, and human nature, even though he never finished middle school. My parents came to America with nothing; the stories they told me were of always finding a way to survive. In Greece, my maternal grandfather was the village doctor, mayor, general store owner, beekeeper, and onion farmer. He had no training or education, but he figured stuff out. I’m not sure how I found my way to own an antique store. I think it’s because they are always my happy place.”
“The shop gives me the opportunity to surround myself with beautiful, weird, and interesting things.”– Owner, Maria Philippis
Before opening Ball & Claw, Philippis was the owner of the much-loved Boitson’s Restaurant in Uptown Kingston. But the pandemic-era hassles of the restaurant business sparked a change of direction to something that fits like a satin glove. “I’m a connector,” she says. “I like getting things to the people that need them, so I buy pieces I love and share them. The shop gives me the opportunity to surround myself with beautiful, weird, and interesting things; being a multi-dealer shop, I’m able to invite dealers that I admire to bring in their goods and set them up in my ‘house’ until they find their way to their next home. It’s pretty dreamy. I love sourcing things; I love when someone comes in and tells me they have things in their car they want to get rid of. I love when people send me pictures of items they no longer need. I love that I get to shop for a living.”
Like so many of life’s best adventures, this one came together organically. “I live down the street. I was walking the dog with a friend, telling her how I need to find a small space to sell some pieces so I can buy some more things; we were standing in front of the spot, and she said ’this place is for sale’. At the same time, my brother was looking for a new project to invest in, and he knows I’m always plotting something…so a few months later, we started construction on the shop.”
“We’ve been doing a Friday ‘happy hour’ for a while now,” she says. “We stay open until seven, put out some pizza or snacks and some wine, dim the lights a bit, and just have a lot of laughs.” – Owner, Maria Philippis
Most days, Philippis comes in early and stays late. When she’s not finding, researching, cleaning, fixing, and displaying cool old stuff, she’s planning events or moving furniture around, setting up fresh vignettes, and chatting. A natural hostess, she thrives on the hospitality side of shopkeeping. “We’ve been doing a Friday ‘happy hour’ for a while now,” she says. “We stay open until seven, put out some pizza or snacks and some wine, dim the lights a bit, and just have a lot of laughs.
I tried to switch it to once a month, but there were protests, so we decided we should do it every week. It’s really a fun way to meet new people or get together with friends before you go out on the town. I’m also trying to get a backgammon club running. It’s on Tuesdays from five to seven, free, open to all levels. We have boards, and we’ll teach you how to play.”
The café, always an important part of the dream, has a whole new feel. “I handed over the reins of the coffee shop to a young entrepreneur, Anthony Rios of arios coffeehaus,” Philippis says. “It’s very exciting to see his vision in the space that I created. He’s doing incredible things in there, adding smoothies and new snacks and amazing espresso drinks.”
The arrival of Rios was yet another happy bit of synchronicity; one can almost picture Philippis’s dad and grandpa plotting it from beyond the veil. “It was pure kismet: Anthony stopped in for a coffee; we talked for a few minutes, and he mentioned that he was looking for a place to move his business and loved my spot. Within a week, he was up and running. He’s twenty-one, creates amazing food and drinks, fixes things, builds things, designs things, works seven days a week, and he’s always smiling and thinking about how he can grow his business more.”
It’s an urge Philippis finds extremely easy to understand. “Until I was in my early thirties, I worked for other people, and I didn’t really like it,” she says. “There's a lot of freedom in working for someone else, not having the twenty-four-hour stress of being the boss. But I think it’s genetic. I like being in charge.” So stop in at Ball & Claw, see what treasures might be awaiting you, relish the hospitality at this warm and loving spot, and join in the delights of the serendipitous dream. “I hope to make Ball & Claw the kind of place that brings people together to shop, eat, drink, learn, play, and get away from all the troubles of the world,” Philippis says. “I think in general it's the kind of place you just want to be in. I know I love being here.”
ball & claw antiques
213 Broadway, Port Ewen
845-481-4993
ballandclawhv.com
