By Janet Gokay

Why did the chicken cross the road?

We put this question to Bella Erder, owner of Aija, the gift, jewelry and accessory store currently on the second floor of the Royal Arcanum Building downtown. On Nov. 1 she will be moving across the street to 6 Station Place, which has laid vacant since Carnegie Hill Antiques moved out in the spring.

“I’m moving because of visibility and foot traffic,” Erder explained. Although she has a loyal following in her present location, “I underestimated people’s resistance to coming up a flight of stairs. People need to see where they’re coming into. They need to be able to look in a window.”

The new space will have visibility in spades. She will occupy one-half of the ground floor—the “west wing”—of the building, which has been a fixture in town for over a century. The original building, designed in 1903 by the renowned architect Alfredo Taylor, housed the Norfolk Water Company. On the National Registry of Historic Places, the iconic building is listed as having a rippling red tile roof and elaborate brickwork embedded with fanciful tiles of animals.

In 1967 Bernard and Marcia Polinsky turned the space into the Norfolk Hardware Store. In 1987, the store burned to the ground in what was alleged although never proven to be a case of arson. With generous assistance from many people in Norfolk, the Polinskys built a new store on the site. The current owners, Gary and Debra Schroen, purchased the building in 2004 and renovated it a few months later.

“The feedback I’ve gotten from the town has been quite positive,” Erder commented. “It’s such a prominent space in town, and people are happy that it will be a store again.” The Schroens, she added, were “genuinely concerned about getting in tenants who would boost the vitality of Norfolk.”

Aija offers an eclectic mix of merchandise that Erder purchases during her frequent trips to Asia, supplemented by offerings from small companies in the U.S. “What’s interesting and different about this store is that it isn’t filled with things people have seen in other stores—it’s unique,” she noted. Her store also houses an art gallery, with monthly openings from June through December—a tradition she plans to continue. Art will be exhibited on the walls of the new space—“huge walls, with lovely high ceilings.”
Erder will be hosting a grand opening party at 6 Station Place on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 4-6 p.m. The new store will be open Tuesday-Sunday. The first art opening will be held on Nov. 29 from 4-6 p.m., featuring the photography of Anne Day from Lakeville.

Sometimes, getting to the other side of the road can mean arriving.

PHOTOS: BRUCE FRISCH AND COPYRIGHT NORFOLK HISTORICAL SOCIETY