Erica Hutchinson Owner
Addy & Ferro
If you spend any time in Fort Greene then you’ve probably stopped in Erica Hutchinson’s Addy & Ferro, the clothing boutique with a window decorated in vinyl records, local art worth thousands of dollars hanging behind the register and French doors opening onto a garden patio where the regulars sip mojitos next to a tiered fountain. This is definitely not your mother’s Fort Greene, where cheap rents in unkempt brownstones were everywhere and notorious gangs claimed the park as their battleground. Say hello to the new cultural mecca of Brooklyn.
Owner Hutchinson named the nearly three-year-old shop after her parents, Adeline and Booker Taliaferro Hutchinson. The welcoming vibe inside is only slightly offset by the fact that one must buzz to enter, but once in, Hutchinson is often the one behind the counter, organizing new finds, pricing items and chatting up her customers. As a fashion industry veteran and former buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., and Cole Haan, Hutchinson says years spent in sterile corporate offices left her stifled. “Since I’m social and enjoy people, I make every effort for everyone who visits the store to feel welcomed.”
Attracting an affluent, bohemian clientele, Hutchinson decorated the shop using her personal flair for style. “The aesthetic is really simple: I buy what I like and create an atmosphere that I want to shop in,” she says. “The space definitely has a vintage feel to it. Some people thought we were a record shop, but I just love the visuals and nostalgia of album covers and I love music.”
Venturing out on her own was tough, says Hutchinson, who used her Clinton Hill brownstone to leverage a loan and learned the financial aspects of entrepreneurship by doing. She says, “I’ve experienced more challenges being a black female business owner than by being gay.” –MW
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