One Kings Lane Will Stay Put On Jobs Lane

One Kings Lane, the popular online home décor and furnishings retailer, has settled on Southampton Village as its first permanent brick-and-mortar store location.

After a successful summer operating as a “pop-up” shop in the old Rogers Memorial Library building at 11 Jobs Lane, the owners of the company decided to extend their stay, giving life to the historic building that has been unoccupied for the past several years. The building was used by the library from 1896 until 2000, when the library moved to its current location on the corner of Windmill Lane and Coopers Farm Road. The building was then used by the Parrish Art Museum until 2012, but it has never been used as a retail space.

One Kings Lane chose the 3,500-square foot Victorian Gothic building for its first foray into a retail space and cash-and-carry operation this summer, selling home furnishings and accessories while also offering design consultation services.

One Kings Lane was founded by Ali Pincus and Susan Feldman in 2009, and quickly became one of the most popular online home furnishings sellers. Despite settling in a town that is already home to Pottery Barn and Hildreth’s—which has been the go-to home furnishings store for discerning customers for more than 175 years—One Kings Lane not only survived but thrived, which led to the decision by the owners to stay put.

“I think what One Kings Lane brings to the table that other competitors don’t is that mix between vintage and new, high [prices] and low, traditional and modern,” said Suki LaBarre, the director of retail operations. “We always knew that the Hamptons would be the perfect place to test our store concept.”

Ms. LaBarre said that throughout the summer, customers would repeatedly ask if the store was going to extend its stay in the village, and were hoping to see what kinds of items it would have on offer during the fall and holiday seasons.

Ms. LaBarre added that the building has been the perfect place to display the items One Kings Lane sells and to promote the brand it represents.

“The stars just kind of aligned when we found this space because it was rich in history and had a lot of architectural detail,” she said. “We knew we didn’t just want to have a traditional storefront. We really wanted to be one with the space. We didn’t want to just fill a blank box with products, but to really create inspiring vignettes that felt like a real home.”

That commitment is clear in the design of the store. An old fireplace on the east wing of the building was re-tiled, and the building’s exposed brick walls and other touches add to the charm. The different nooks and crannies of the building and the way they’ve been styled provides a feeling of stepping into a home rather than a store.

In addition to selling a wide variety of items, from hostess gifts to beds and sofas, One Kings Lane also has a robust design consultation service, and hopes to extend that area of its business in Southampton and nearby communities.

“That was one of the things that propelled us to stay open,” Ms. LaBarre said. “We wanted to be able to offer a year-round design service experience to our customers. There is a really robust design community here and we’d like to be a resource for them as well. One Kings Lane is a place where designers can come and bring clients, show them cool products and give them inspiration.”