Atlantique Gifts and Decor opens in Rehoboth
One week into opening Atlantique Gifts and Decor, owner Lisa Marks said she’s still trying to get a feel for how it’s going to fit into the community. Right now, she said, she’s trying to carry a little bit of something for everyone and see what her customers gravitate toward.
“I want to see what’s going to stick,” she said during an interview July 13. “The shop will continue to evolve.”
Located on Baltimore Avenue, in retail space of the CAMP Rehoboth complex, Marks said the name Atlantique is French for Atlantic and it exemplifies her style – vintage, antique and things with character. Most of the merchandise is new, but it has a vintage feel, she said.
Marks said she travels the trade show circuit for things she finds interesting and unusual. Marks was born and raised in St. Louis, but most recently she was living in Mark Twain’s hometown Hannibal, Mo., running two businesses there – a similarly styled gift store and a museum. She said she still owns those businesses, and she’s used to the ebb and flow of a tourist town.
“When you’re in a tourist town, you have to cover all the bases,” she said.
Marks said she traveled to the East Coast growing up to visit family in Manhattan, N.Y., but she hadn’t been to Rehoboth before driving through on a road trip last fall. Beginning last September, she said she visited Rehoboth four times from Missouri before packing up her van and heading east for good.
Marks said she explored opening her business in the region’s other communities, but she realized Rehoboth is the center of the local business circles, and it would be the best place to try and get a foothold. “There’s tremendous potential here,” she said.
Marks said she loves being in Rehoboth. “What’s not to love?” she said. “Every morning, I get to walk outside, see the sunrise over the ocean and smell the salt air. There’s something about the ocean that draws you to it.”
Atlantique Gifts and Decor, 39 Baltimore Ave., is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. Marks said store hours will probably change after Labor Day. For more information, call 302-727-5575, email lisa@shopatlantique.com or go the business’ Facebook page.
