Rom Mai Thai now has a neighbor in the newly renovated Lewis Building. On Friday a new boutique called Edgar opened its doors selling everything from Asian fish lamps to antique dowery chests. The owner of this new establishment is Edgar Lee, the founder of Votivo and self-identified collector. Lee says he began acquiring various items on businesses trips to France and Mexico and soon had a large contact list aroung the globe. When he sold Votivo in 2007 he agreed to stay out of the fragrance business and soon decided to take advantage of his international connections and get into retail. Thus begins the life of Edgar: The Store.

There is little order in the new space. One wall is filled with various hand crafted masks from different regions of South America. And on a table just to the right of the masks you can find kitchy tourist items such as coasters and statues from Europe. There are also various tables, frames, mirrors, lamps, sculptures, and art pieces with price tags for all incomes. In many ways the store seems like an expression of Lee himself and each item probably has a story that he would be more than happy to share.

When asked why he opened Edgar on The Hill Lee said he had roots here. It was the first neighborhood he lived in when he moved to Seattle and he ran a previous store called Timbuktu on Broadway over 20 years ago. He also mentioned our good style, of course ;)

There is no website yet but I suggest you check out the new store. Most of the items have yet to be priced so you might be able to haggle yourself a good deal. I’ve also added Edgar to my 2009 Business map which you can check out and add to here.