Retail Notebook: What he likes is what he sells

On the second floor of The Anne Bonny, the self-proclaimed "art, home accouterments and dead people's furniture" shop on East Olive Way in Capitol Hill, a bowler-hatted apatosaurus marches toward a country cottage in an otherwise pastoral painting.

The landscape, titled "Keeping up with the Joneses," is part of the current art exhibit at the shop, and it epitomizes The Anne Bonny's collection of odd artifacts -- seemingly ordinary items that at the same time are extraordinary.

Among them: a walking stick -- with a carved skull on top; a simple dark wood cross -- that happens to be 9 feet tall; and a rake -- painted in peeling orange and aqua blue. In a black case toward the back of the shop, a mummified monkey disintegrates, although he's not for sale.

The collection is the brainchild of Spencer Moody, 32, who a year ago was putting bottles into boxes at Specialty Bottle after returning to Seattle following a stint in New York City.

Moody thought he would open a store when he retired but then decided he might as well do it right away, he explained this week as he worked at removing a frame from a painting of a covered bridge.

		Seattle P-I

So with the help of Shelley Thorsen, a longtime friend and former roommate, Moody quit his job, filled two storage units with goods and found a storefront. On April 29, the shop -- named after the 18th century pirate -- opened.

Moody, who is the store's only full-time employee, tries to refresh the selection on Mondays, when the shop is closed, by buying from garage and estate sales. He also takes in items from friends (such as the painting he was taking apart, which he did not particularly like, and the monkey, which is on loan) and trades for others, such as the cross, which he exchanged for a painting of a cowgirl.

He said he had no knowledge of the antiques market and simply acquires what he likes -- not items that he thinks will necessarily sell right away.

That's what sets apart the shop, said Thorsen, who stops by about once a week.

"You don't feel like it's someone who's been doing it for 40 years," she said. There is "an aspect of risk there."

So far, the strategy is working. Although the store is losing money, Moody said The Anne Bonny is moving in a "positive direction."

The upstairs loft is used as a showcase for musical and visual artists. Monthly concerts, such as last weekend's performance by The Nextdoor Neighbors, an Olympia electroacoustic folk duo, fill the store.

This month, Monocol, a collaboration of Ballard artists, has work on display, including a replica of Mount Rushmore made of pillows ("Mount Plushmore") and a number of original paintings retouched with new elements, such as the dinosaur with the bowler hat. Next up is an exhibit by Derek Erdman, a Chicago painter known for his portraits.

But over the course of an hour on Tuesday evening, only two visitors meandered in to The Anne Bonny. Neither purchased anything. Over the course of the day, Moody said, he had sold only three items. He said it did not really matter.

"I could have gone the whole day without selling anything and in the next hour I could sell something expensive," he said.

Thorsen, who handles the shop's business side and works at the store when Moody is touring with his band, The Triumph of Lethargy, said the store has high expectations for the holiday season.

At That's Atomic, the antique store up the street, owner Pam Garl predicted The Anne Bonny would be a draw.

"I adore Spencer," she said, adding that she welcomed the opening of The Anne Bonny because it could make the immediate area a destination for people in search of objects like those carried in their shops and at the nearby Pretty Parlor on Summit Avenue.

IF YOU GO

The Anne Bonny

1355 E. Olive Way

Hours: Noon-7 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday.

More information: 206-382-7845;

theannebonny.com.