Peace & Riot To Reopen In Big, New Space On Tompkins Avenue Wednesday

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — People pounded on the doors and begged to be let into peace + RIOT Saturday afternoon, moments before the interior design shop opened its new Tompkins Avenue location, said owner Achuziam Maha-Sanchez.

“People were calling, “Aren’t you ready yet?” Maha-Sanchez said with a laugh. “Everyone looked so joyful, it was pretty special. People shopped so hard.”

Celebrations for the opening of peace + RIOT’s new location at 403 Tompkins Ave. began around 12 p.m. Saturday, April 8, and continued into the evening, Maha-Sanchez said.

Maha-Sanchez estimated that the store saw almost 1,000 guests, including Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and several other candidates for the position who were attending an event at the Vanguard Independent Democratic Association next door.

Maha-Sanchez and her husband Lionel Sanchez have been developing a loyal following since peace + RIOT — which specializes in African, Caribbean and locally sourced home decor items — first opened on Nostrand Avenue in 2013, she said.

The couple closed the smaller location at the end of the 2016 holiday season and began refurbishing their new, bigger location in January 2017, Maha-Sanchez said.

The renovation was a family affair. Maha-Sanchez’s husband installed the alarm system, she installed half the ceiling, and the couple’s seven-year-old son Kanayo primed the walls and designed the store’s new children’s corner, she said.

“He drew a floor plan for the kids area,” said Maha-Sanchez said of her son. “ I love that — he is something else.”

The new location is twice the size of its original location so that peace + RIOT can share the space with local jewelry designer Mary Wormworth of Mary’s Hands Jewelry and clothing designer Sheryl Roberts of Indigo Style Vintage, she said.

Maha-Sanchez decided to sublet the space in hopes of creating a haven for the kind of shopper that would want to buy Roberts’ clothes, Wormworth’s jewelry and her decor items, she said.

“Right now the competition is really high,” she said. “You can’t go at this business alone.”

Maha-Sanchez liked the idea of promoting local entrepreneurs, and thought it wouldn't hurt business to have three social media accounts promoting one venue, she said.

The store will begin having normal business hours on Wednesday around 12 p.m. and, once a new kitchen space is installed next month, will offer tastings from local cookbook writers and chefs, according to Maha-Sanchez.

Maha-Sanchez promised an upcoming Mother's Day tasting with These Little Cookies, the local catering company that served cucumber lemonade and lavender snickerdoodles to the swarms of people that stopped by the shop on Saturday, Maha-Sanchez said.

“The big takeaway from Saturday was just what I thought it would be,” said Maha-Sanchez. “People want more communal spaces in this neighborhood.”

Image via Corren Conway/Forever 12 Photography & Film.