Nikola - December 2025

Curating Is; Art, Honor, Love

Slope Home 

This month we had the pleasure of conversing with three different shop owners; Abby Mattern of Lille Shoppe, Alexander Widener of Widener Company and Eva Elmore-Welch of Slope Home. Getting a peek into the past, passion, process and purpose behind these shops was an uplifting way to close out this year and set into effect lots of pondering the unexpected altruism in curating.

We first asked the shopkeepers to tell us a bit about their history and the origins of their shops. Lille Shoppe, named after the Danish word for little, was born from Abby Mattern’s discoveries abroad and her desire to bring Denmark’s joy of interior design back to Connecticut. She studied in Copenhagen and noticed the integration of design into all aspects of Danish life. “Really good design infiltrates day-to-day life so much in Denmark, and I truly believe it contributes to overall well being”. This sentiment is one that captivated Abby even from her childhood as she cited early memories of her parents arranging and rearranging things to always be cozy and pleasing to the eye. “The shop is actually named after the Danish word for “little” because I always want those who enter to feel the spirit of a little shop – where so much care is put into every aspect of it”.

Top: Lille Shoppe 
Bottom: Abby Mattern, Founder and Owner of Lille Shoppe 

Alexander told us of a string of fateful events that lead him to take the plunge into starting the Widener Company. On their annual road trip to their favorite town in Maine, Alexander made a comment, somewhat jokingly, to his husband about wanting to buy their beloved getaway spot and attached shop. His wish was more akin to a premonition; on that very same trip the woman who owned the property offered to sell it to Alexander. He then made a series of intuitive decisions including following the guidance of his horoscope that told him to “put himself out there”, resulting in the creation of Alexander’s viral TikTok about the history of Wiscasset and then, his commitment to Widener Company as his full time career.

Top: Alexander Widener Founder and Owner of Widener Company.
Bottom: Widener Company. Photos: Ari Kellerman

Eva painted a picture of her wishes to one day own a shop of wonderful, useful things and how she pined for somewhere local to find quality everyday items. She says “It was always a little daydream of mine to own a shop. When I lost my job during the pandemic, I had this opportunity to try something different”. From a combination of Eva’s quietly growing aspiration and a not so subtle nudge from the outside world, Slope Home was born. Her love for Park Slope needed an outlet too, as she expressed to us that many of the items Slope Home carries are directly inspired by the neighborhood itself. Eva told us it was very important that her shop reflect the rich architectural history of Park Slope through the medium of antiques while staying open to the needs of the community.

Top: Owners and Founders of Slope Home Eva Elmore-Welch and her and husband Marcus.
Bottom: Slope Home. 

Each origin story of these owners, no matter the differences in time, place and circumstances all had the unmistakable mark of artistry. We felt a kinship with that internal pull towards the creation of something that Abby, Alexander and Eva all intimated to us. As the conversations went on and the shopkeepers opened up about their processes there was more than artistry at work here. We began to see this throughline of selflessness, of giving, of honoring and loving that which sparked the desire to collect and arrange.

Slope Home 

Eva, owner of Slope Home told us her shop is “a little bit of a love letter to [Park Slope] in many ways” She describes Park Slope as being closer to nature than many other neighborhoods in New York City as the streets are lined with trees and its proximity to Prospect Park. Eva’s love and respect for her neighborhood are evident in her mission to provide a collection of thoughtfully curated goods to her community. She says Slope Home is always growing to accommodate what customers are in search of. From the beginning Eva knew items for children and dogs would be an important inclusion as it reflected her surroundings in Park Slope but the addition of “apothecary, stationery, and book offerings at the shop [were] built out as a response to our community's interest and our own desire to expand into different aspects of home life”. We could easily sense from Eva’s words that, for her, curating is not only arranging pretty items but also a fine tuned consciousness of others.

Alexander Widener Company
Photos: Ari Kellerman 

Alexander expressed his adoration for the town of Wiscasset (where Widener Company is located) and how it melds so well with his own values and interests. The town embodies coziness, simple pleasures and is home to many skilled craftspeople. He believes in living more slowly and intentionally which goes hand in hand with antiques and handcrafted goods. “Things should last a long time,” he says. Whether it be 17th century textiles that have proven their durability, hand woven baskets made to order by a local artisan or watering cans sourced from a company with nearly 140 years of craft to boast, Alexander curates products that carry themselves with integrity to wherever they may end up. Alexander and Abby both iterated that deciding what to offer in their stores somewhat depends on how much they’d like to keep that item for their own homes. It was quite endearing to hear the two of them express a sense of duty to pass along these beloved items to a new home. Alexander framed curation as being the “steward of objects”.

Lille Shoppe 

Abby seems to agree as she told us, “I love supporting businesses and people who are passionate about what they are doing and helping to showcase that”. In her travels both overseas and locally, Abby has come across incredible craftspeople and quality goods, “There were so many unique makers and styles I was introduced to that I wanted to bring back to Connecticut”. Generosity seems to be a cornerstone of her work as she aims the spotlight onto the businesses she works with and shares her discoveries with her customers. Abby hopes to not only share the beauty and quality of the items she chooses to carry at Lille Shoppe but also feelings of homeiness, nostalgia, comfort. She told us that her love for vintage and antiques comes from those very same qualities. It isn’t just the stir of wholesome feelings though, Abby also mentioned the resilience that older items are made with. We can easily see how her devotion to the details of quality extends to everyone she works with and curates for.

We dove into some specifics of what comprises valuable goods in the eyes of Abby, Alexander and Eva. There is a shared admiration of the unique tactile nature of handmade goods among the three. Alexander appreciates the little differences in size and shape of handmade goods. He talked about the delight in seeing fingerprints left by a maker. In a world of mass produced and fast produced goods Alexander expressed just how important and inspiring it is to witness evidence of human hands involved in the making process. Abby spoke of the “care and attention” that is so obvious in handmade goods. She says “I love when it’s evident that a maker puts so much time into their craft”. Eva told us one of the things she loves most about selling items in her brick and mortar shop is the ability to celebrate the textures and scents of the products with her customers. She explained how working with small makers increases the awareness of how goods make their way to a consumer. “We’re always aware that it costs human labor and natural resources to make things, and so we want to make sure that labor is fairly paid and products use natural, responsibly-sourced materials,” she says. Alexander spoke to a similar ethical approach as he told us that each of the hand woven baskets for sale through his website and at Widener Company’s brick and mortar store are made to order by a local craftswoman. The process takes a few weeks, however, it completely eliminates the waste of unpurchased product or unused materials that are symptomatic of mass production. There is a genuine altruism behind Abby, Alex and Eva’s shops as they seek to match customers with special items you can feel confident folding into your everyday life.

Sloppe Home , Alexander Widener and Lille Shoppe 

Of course we wholeheartedly align with these sentiments on craft, sustainability and quality. A day in the life of our makers consists of honing the skill of the perfect wax pour, mixing dyes from handwritten and well worn recipe cards and tying every ribbon around each pair of candles before sending them off to our customers. We are honored that these shopkeepers choose to carry our candles alongside many other incredible makers' products. Abby remembers her first encounter with our business as she wandered her way through the Hudson Valley and found us in a local shop. She said “They almost feel a bit vintage or old fashioned, in such a special way. Once I learned that they are made of pure beeswax, I knew I had to find a way to stock them”. Eva found us in a similar fashion up in the Catskill Mountains while visiting family, “we had been using them and giving them as gifts ever since. It's important to us that your candles are made with pure beeswax, as so many candle makers use wax blends that contain paraffin, a fossil-fuel by-product… We love that you're a family business based in New York and that you care about acting as an ethical employer in your community”. We are so happy to know our candles have a home at the Widener Company, Lille Shoppe and Slope Home until they are “ushered into their next adventure” as Alexander puts it. It was such a breath of fresh air speaking with these “stewards of objects” and watching this invisible web of art, honor and love reveal itself as the connection between makers, finders and customers.

Follow and Learn More : 
Lille Shoppe
@Lille Shoppe

Alexander Widener
@alexanderwidener

Sloppe Home 
@sloppehome