Accent Studio Will Light Up Your Life

Travelling through the regional marketplace of art and whimsy, a stop at the Accent Studio is mandatory.

Whatever your budget, it’s a challenge to leave this bright shop, that features American art glass and regional fine art, without a package. It could be as tiny as an $8 key ring, enchanting as hand-crafted beaded animals from West Africa that can be perched in an outside garden, traditional as a hand-blown friendship ball, or as long-lasting as a perfectly matted and framed update of a piece of art that’s been in the family for decades.

While some items on display carry price tags in the thousands of dollars, many are very affordable and some—like framing services—are better deals than you can find at national arts and craft stores.

A stop at the Kings Highway shop of Mel Fendt and Ric Venzie, business partners for almost a decade, is a comfortable one. Browse as you wish, and touch what you want. Fendt and Venzie know the provence of each piece, whether it’s a necklace of sea glass nuggets or a blown glass lifesized version of an aloe plant.

In their previous spot, several blocks away on Kings Highway between Mechanic Street and Haddon Avenue, they asked shoppers to remove backpacks because space was tight. Now, with about four times the floor space, they don’t hold their breath when would-be customers come in with children. If the adult is seriously shopping, a space will be cleared at the granite work station, and crayons and drawing paper come out from under the counter. They’ve found that parents keep a tight rein on children inside the shop. When youngsters’ eyes widen from the attraction of all that’s shining, usually the first thing that happens is an adult’s hand clamps down.

Most of the truly valuable items are either in glass cases or stored above the reach of young children.

Fendt and Venzie met in 1995, when Fendt moved into Cherry Hill and Venzie, who then had a landscaping business, stopped to see if she wanted him to continue to care for the grounds. They soon learned that both worked in information technology: she was doing Y2K fixes for computer programs and he had a computer programming company. Within a year, Venzie was working for Fendt as a consultant.

“We worked for the City of New York, for banks, for NASA sites,” said Fendt. 

Next, the two worked together to develop digital video tools, including programs now used by PBS, MTV and Comcast, as well as other on-demand shows. Fendt was traveling more and more and liking it less and less. The glamour of traveling all over the world was wearing thin, she said. “I’d think, ‘Oh, I have to go back to Paris.’ It was time to give it up.” 

“We were neighbors and we both collected art glass wherever we went. We had a pretty good chunk of artists we knew personally,” said Fendt, so they asked if they wanted to exhibit in a New Jersey gallery. She also knew the framing business through family contacts and saw a market for custom framing that wasn’t available in the region. 

“We did our homework and knew that if we paired the two businesses, we could feed off each other,” said Fendt.

Today, when they study the books, they see each part of the shop draws in just about 50 percent of the income. 

When the shop is empty, both will work on framing jobs, which they promise to complete within two weeks. They regularly draw customers from Philadelphia and Bucks counties and they’re one of the few framing businesses that can do oversized pieces, some as large as 4-by-8 feet. 

Large items that have to be shipped are packaged without glass to cut down on weight and damage. Sometimes, said Venzie, he’s not only delivered completed work, but installed it. “A customer will bring in something that’s rolled up. Then when they come in to pick it up, realize it won’t fit into their Yugo anymore,” he said. 

Much of their business, for framing, art restoration and hand-made glass items, comes via the Internet, and referrals are continual. 

The friendship balls are big sellers and very collectible and the shop owners will email photos of individual glass globes to customers out of the area because each is different. 

Both are fussy about workmanship. No mat is ever used if it’s cut even a fraction short. All mats are acid-free.  All of their frames are either wood or metal. 

“A lot of frames (used in large retailers) are made of recycled material. It’s like foam. Eventually they fall apart. The nails fall out. If you have a fire in your house we want our frames to burn, not melt,” said Venzie.

Fendt has been able to clean old needlework items, including some damaged by soot in fires, and she’ll work with customers to tweak a frame or mat to make it pop. 

The shop owners also are skilled in re-framing art that no longer complements an interior. Just changing a mat or frame can give artwork a new life, they said, and many people bring in fabric swatches or paint chips when they’re ordering framing. “It’s not about looking at the wall and seeing the frame. It’s letting the artwork sing,” said Fendt.

The shop includes a gallery that showcases regional artists, including photographers and each First Friday in Haddonfield—an event that resumes in the spring—a new artist is featured. 

While Valentine’s Day prompted a large display of glass ornaments and jewelry, Fendt said hearts are always in fashion and always available.

For St. Patrick’s Day, she’ll be displaying large brooches, now back in fashion, hand-crafted by Lauren-Spencer.

Accent Studio at 123 Kings Highway East is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The website, accent-studio.com, includes designers and artists whose works are on display.