The 401 SHOP
The Lady Next Door
A Warren institution starts its second chapter in a bright, airy space just steps from its original home.
T
HE LADY NEXT DOOR has been a Warren landmark for forty-two years. But there was a time last spring when Christine Stulik, who took over the business in 2020, was sure she’ d have to close.
The owners of her Water Street building weren’ t renewing her lease, and she found herself with a store full of eclectic vintage treasures and nowhere to go. Maybe she could find something in nearby Massachusetts, she thought; perhaps New Bedford, or she could set up shop inside a converted garage at her Fall River home. Or maybe online.
Stunned, she turned to social media for help.
“ Time is precious,” she wrote.“ It’ s a reminder that our small businesses that we cherish and love are not a given; they require a constant fight not only from us as the purveyors but from the community that defines itself around the places that make it special.”
Customers who had been shopping at the store for decades visited, in tears.“ This has been my home for thirty years,” they pleaded.“ I can’ t imagine Warren without this store. It has to stay here,” they said.“ It has to be on Water Street.”
After a few stressful months of looking at spaces and hearing from neighborhood residents and business owners eager to help, Stulik learned the former Bakeshop spot was available. After a little negotiation and a lot of elbow grease— Stulik, her father, husband and stepson painted tiles and ripped
30 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I JULY 2026