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Wayne
ADORE ME OPENS IN
WILLOWBROOK
When ADORE ME launched online in
2012, the plan was to sell petit to plus-size
intimate apparel directly to customers. Six
years later, the company is marketing its
well-priced lingerie, activewear and paja-
mas in brick and mortar locations — first in
Staten Island, then Bridgewater Commons
and now Willowbrook Mall. In a bid to
combine the convenience of online shop-
ping with the advantage of being able to
try clothes on, checkouts at Adore Me
shops are mobile, and cash-free; a “lingerie
bar” will serve spouses and friends who
want to park themselves away from the
shopping action. The company plans to
open 300 stores over the next five years.
• 1400 Willbrook Mall, adoreme.com
Wayne
THE DEBT DOCTOR
Great ideas have been borne out in garages—like Microsoft
and Amazon—and now a lifelong Wayne resident hopes
to add his business to the list. JAMES LAMBRIDIS has
launched DEBT MD, a financial technology website that
connects people with the professional help they need to
become debt-free. “Currently, if someone wishes to explore
their options for resolving their unsecured debt, they would
need to go back and forth from loan companies, to credit
counselors, to debt settlement companies, to bankruptcy
attorneys,” he says. “This process costs the consumer time
and money, which they naturally do not have as a result of being in debt.” Debt MD clients, he
says, fill out a brief financial survey, and are then connected to reputable companies best suited
to assist them with their credit card debt, medical bills, student loans and other obligations. The
service, he says, is supported through referral fees from partner companies listed on the site, and
is free of charge to users. A good sign for the company’s own financial health: Debt MD recently
moved out of the garage and into a Clifton office. • 973-486-0144, debtmd.com
Wayne Wayne
MICAH DEMAREST of Passaic County
Technical Institute (PCTI) placed first in the
national ASLHS (American Sign Language
Honor Society) Chuck Baird Memorial Art
Competition for 2018. He received the
honor for the work he titled Nyle Dimarco,
which he submitted in the Original
Artwork category. The creative submis-
sions were judged based upon technique,
organization, integration, and how the
artist’s rendering reflects deaf culture. Nyle
Dimarco was selected for honors by famed
deaf artist Charles Wildbank. The American
Sign Language Honor Society Art Contest
was open to both high school and college
students. Wayne native and current resident JEFFREY J.
ANTONUCCI followed the family tradition, and worked
for years in construction as a bricklayer, until he became a
novelist. He recalls an epiphany the morning of his recent
book launch. “…Life as a bricklayer trained me to write this
book,” he says. “My teachers were my family members
and friends... A brick by itself cannot hold up a building
but bricks built upon a strong foundation can withstand
anything. A book is built on an equally strong foundation of
love and words. Stories, like bricks, can last forever.” Deep
within a Blueberry Sky, his first novel, is a work of magical
realism, and tells the story of Sarah, a 7-year-old who uses
a poem written by her grandparents to go on a journey of
adventure and discovery. (Woodpecker Press, $27)
• Inspiredworks.net; Watchung Booksellers, 54 Fairfield St.
in Montclair, 973-744-7177, watchungbooksellers.com
A SIGN OF
ARTISTIC TALENT
FROM BRICKLAYER TO
BOOK AUTHOR
WAYNE MAGAZINE SPRING 2019
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