Ferdinand
Issue #23
We’re bullish on this sweet Maine shop
By Beth LaMontagne
Published: March 1st, 2005 | 4:14pm
Three years ago, Diane Toepfer moved to Portland, Maine. Just two days after arriving, she saw an open storefront on Congress Street, the biggest and best thoroughfare for shopping and art in the city. Toepfer knew the small space was her chance to open the shop she had always dreamed of. “I’ve always wanted my own business,” says Toepfer. “While other girls were playing house, I was playing store.”
Ferdinand, named after the pacifist bull in a 1936 children’s book, features goods from indie companies like Queen Bee Creations and Texture clothing, and work by more than a dozen Portland artists. The reasonably priced merchandise is complemented by the old-fashioned, New England-style shop surroundings. Pillows are laid out invitingly on the window dais. The wood floor creaks below as you browse hand-printed greeting cards, stationery, and leg warmers. The high, white ceilings lend plenty of space for Toepfer’s diverse selection of lamps and handmade shades, covered in a variety of materials from vintage fabric to old sewer maps.
The most unusual item at Ferdinand is Toepfer’s signature creation, the Softhead. In an array of colors and three different shapes, these pillow-like stuffed creatures, made of scrap wool from a local coat maker, were the subject of a photo contest and subsequent calendar last year. Toepfer has sold, both in-store and online, more than 400 of these strange but cute creations — a bargain at $18 to $22 each.
Toepfer likes to think of Ferdinand as not only a shop, but also a meeting place for crafty people. She helps out with an indie crafts bulletin board for Portland artisans, sponsors openings for a local artist about four times a year, and is active in Spindleworks, a Portland-based organization that connects the disabled with the arts.
“People are really getting into crafts in Portland,” Toepfer says. “It’s nice to see that people are making things.”
Visit Ferdinand at 243 Congress Street in Portland, Maine, or at ferdinandhomestore.com.
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