Ellenville’s Canal Street is buzzing with new business. From bookstores to coffee shops and more, the village’s downtown is surging with life as the warm weather season begins. One of the newest additions is Vintage Modern, a mid-century modern antique store specializing in furnishings, lighting, art, and metal toys.

The store is owned and operated by Anthony Giaimo, an actor and playwright with a 50-year career in the arts. Twelve years ago, Giaimo shifted his interests to antiques when he opened the first rendition of Vintage Modern up in Woodstock.

Giaimo is known for appearing in films including The Birdcage (1996), Wild Things (1998), and All About the Benjamins (2002). Besides acting, Giaimo is known locally for writing and producing a play for the Bearsville Theatre in 2018 called Curtains for Myron, based on his brother’s life.

After ditching the city life to live in Woodstock, Giaimo taught acting at SUNY Ulster for four years. It soon dawned on him that the world of acting had drastically changed since he first began his career. He pivoted away from acting but still maintains his love for playwriting, and throughout the years has been casually collecting antiques, with an emphasis on vintage toys.

Giaimo opened the Woodstock iteration of Vintage Modern through a “handshake agreement” with his 100-year-old landlord.

“I got a pair of mid-century chairs and they sold in 12 minutes. Then I bought another and they sold,” Giaimo said. “It became my little niche.”

After his landlord passed away, Giaimo stayed at the space by the good graces of the building’s heirs, but about a year ago Giaimo decided it was time to call it quits – or so he thought.

“I found myself driving around,” said Giaimo, who now lives in the Wawarsing section of Kerhonkson, “and I thought ‘should I open a place?’ And one morning, I took a left on Canal Street and I saw the ‘For Rent’ sign – a red and white sign with a handwritten phone number on it.”

Giaimo reached out to building owner Sandy Frayman and “the rest is history.”

He officially put a lease down on the space a few days before March 1, and had his soft opening on Saturday, March 22.

A lot can happen in four weeks. In that time, Giaimo has transformed the space, which used to house the designer clothing brand Alpana Bawa, into a chic tapestry of vintage relics – from delicate metal toys to sleek coffee tables, with plush chairs and striking art adorning the walls.

Giaimo said it “felt so right” moving his business to Ellenville, as he feels “like stuff is beginning to happen, I haven’t been too hooked into it. I only came here a couple time before.”

Throughout the whole conversation he was gushing about his new next door neighbor Underground Coffee and Ales, which he said “pushed him over the edge” to acquiring the space as his own.

“Everybody has been so welcoming,” Giaimo said, “I’m happy to be here and talk to people again.”

The sign on the door, he said, is the original one from ten years ago. “It fits perfectly,” he said, “I feel this is all kismet. I pull up to the front of the store and smile.”

The business, he emphasized, “isn’t about making money.” He clarified that his pieces aren’t high-end but aren’t junk either. “It’s charming stuff and I get stuff that’s in good shape.”

The store is located at 148 Canal St., Ellenville. It’s open Thursday from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 12 – 8 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. You can reach out to the store at (917) 903-3153 during those hours to inquire about items for sale, or see if Giaimo would be interested in some of your antiques.