FOR STARTERS SOMETHING NEW
SPOTLIGHT
NEW SHOES: Joshua Swift, left, and David Maceroni, in their East Providence warehouse where they receive and ship out shoes for their new company, Dash Running LLC. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
A swift entry into shoe sales BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com
JOSHUA SWIFT is his own target audience: a recreational runner sick of paying too much for fancy running shoes from brand-name companies. And he figured he wasn’t the only one. So Swift and business partner David Maceroni created their own shoe company. Dash Running LLC started selling a single product – a unisex running shoe for $70 – in April. Swift, who works full time as a supply chain director for a local manufacturer, capitalized on his industry expertise to bring the direct-to-consumer model to his new venture. Dash’s shoes avoid the markups associated with traditional brand-name footwear by working directly with manufacturers in China, which ship the finished product back to a warehouse in East Providence, no middleman required. The simplicity cuts unnecessary expenses and creates some financial flexibility for the company to fulfill its philanthropic goals. For every nine pairs of shoes sold, Dash donates a pair to a Boston youth mentorship and running program called Sole Train Boston. Swift is considering a second shoe design and more sizes, but otherwise has no plans to expand. There is also no physical storefront – shoes are sold online and at certain race events in the state. n
CURIOUS COLLECTOR: Aardvark Antiques Inc. owner Arthur Grover, center, loves the thrill of the hunt for rare or unique items. Grover is pictured with his sons, Rocco Grover Silvestri, right, and Jay Grover Silvestri, general manager, at the Newport business. PBN PHOTO/DAVID HANSEN
On hunt for hidden gems Antique shop features restoration arm
BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com
ARTHUR GROVER loves the chase. Whether it was combing through the Cranston dump as a teenager or now traveling to Dubai and Thailand to buy antiques for his business, Grover lives for the thrill of uncovering a hidden gem. “If you like it, you buy it and someone else will like it and it becomes a trend,” Grover said. That philosophy has carried him through more than 50 years in business as owner of Aardvark Antiques Inc. From million-dollar stone fountains to $12 trinkets, the Newport business caters to a variety of tastes and wallets. Teeth-bearing bronze hippos share space with mahogany dressers. There are local, Gilded Age-era heirlooms from Newport mansions and Asian imports from Grover’s globetrotting expeditions. Among his favorites: a stone fountain displayed at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, which he bought from a Providence homeowner 35 years ago. He won’t sell it, instead preferring to keep the 1,000-pound giant on display just to admire it. When talking about another beloved piece, a 1930s art deco stone sculpture known as Song of Love, he refers to it with “she” pronouns. While the higher-end pieces demand prices only wealthy collectors or museums with large endowments
can afford, Aardvark Antiques caters to more than the elite preservation crowd. Seasonal tourists can just as easily find an affordable set of local glassware within the 30,000-square-foot showroom, while antique furniture is coming back into vogue among homeowners thanks to the supply chain aggravating bigger-brand commercial furniture outlets. “People can’t get Ikea furniture anymore,” said Jay Grover Silvestri, Grover’s son and the business’s general manager. “All the antique dressers and bedroom sets that no one used to be interested in, that stuff is back.” Both Jay and Grover’s older son, Rocco Grover Silvestri, work for the business, a partnership that has tested the patience of the self-proclaimed hot-blooded Italian family. But Rocco Grover Silvestri, who returned to work for the family operation at the beginning of the pandemic after a career in education, says they’ve figured out how to avoid those more “combustible” moments.
OWNER: Arthur Grover
LOCATION: 9 JT Connell Highway, Newport
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Antique buyer/ seller
6 | MAY 27-JUNE 9, 2022 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com
EMPLOYEES: Nine
Their shared love for giving new life to forgotten treasures helps. It’s an art that requires patience and a cool head, especially when it comes to the price. Antiques don’t come with a price sticker, requiring buyers and sellers to barter for a fair amount. Aardvark has, for the most part, avoided the conflict that sometimes accompanies bargaining, which Jay Grover Silvestri credits to the value of its wares. “My personal strategy is not to try too hard, let the piece sell itself,” he said. The bigger sticker shock, as of late, is the cost to ship mammoth statues and heavy furniture, sometimes from overseas. Costs have gone up nearly 50% thanks to the fallout from the pandemic. “The cost of shipping is making me not sleep at night,” said Jay Grover Silvestri. Also a pain point: finding workers, particularly welders, with the skill needed to service the restoration arm of the business, which took off when Arthur Grover acquired a local welding company in 2009. Restoration is one of his favorite parts of the job, and a key source of business for customers, including the Preservation Society of Newport County. n YEAR FOUNDED: 1969 ANNUAL REVENUE: $1.5 million
