The Emerigo Vespucci of Fillmore Streettext and photos by Caitlin Donohue
I was off on my own adventure the day I found Cottage Industry (2326 Fillmore, SF). Drawn initially to its display window full of small wooden men with exotic potbellies, further exploration revealed that this was the kind of cavernous, glorious grab bag of a store every neighborhood should have.
Scattered throughout the cluttered aisles was an antique cabinet whose jars and drawers neatly organized a world’s worth of ceramic beads, banks of somber African idols. I lost myself fingering a starter jacket made from dashiki fabric and in the fumes from the cones of bazaar incense. International objects of flair on shelves, on the floor, on every inch of wall.
It was as though someone traveled the globe and brought back every beautiful thing they saw. Which basically, is what happened.
Owner Claudio Barone ventured from his native Napoli at age 18 to open his first store in New York City, and brought his current collection- culled from estate sales, antique stores and local markets in 47 different countries- to Pacific Heights 22 years ago. “I had to explore our territory,” he tells me. “You know, Italians discovered this place.”
Beyond the honorable legacy of Emerigo Vespucci, we owe Cottage Industry’s smorgasbord to Barone’s yen to enlighten the natives. “I want to show Americans passion for the old.”
Gesturing to the antique colored glass chandeliers hanging above us he continues. “There is stuff in here from the past that never will come back. It’s like making love with a good person- the same with an object for which so much is put into the making.”
Showing off his favorite things for sale, Barone haphazardly pulls bolts of cloth from the shelves to demonstrate the strappo process by which his strikingly canvassed 1920’s frescoes were grafted from the walls of homes in Italy. We whirl through Cottage Industry’s narrow aisles, and using the objects around us he cobbles together the life story of a wandering knight.
Ebony carving lessons for poverty-stricken villagers in the Congo. Purchasing an Indonesian shopkeeper’s entire stock the day of the man’s impending bank foreclosure.
His wares vend from 10 cents to $30,000 and this diversity of price, according to Barone, is part of the long-term success of Cottage Industry. In the past two decades, he’s seen countless boutiques and knick-knackeries go down under the weight of Fillmore window shopping.
Chalk up Barone’s story as a lesson for anyone who trying to make a living doing what they love. “Every housewife wants to open her own place, she thinks ‘oh that will be fun!’ But it takes dedication and love to show the rest of the world your passion.”
Cottage Industry
2326 Fillmore, SF
(415) 885-0326
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