A Grand experiment

Chic home furnishings store opens its doors in Union Square

Wendy Friedman, Jonathan O'Toole, and Adam Larson, the owners of Grand in Somerville, share a love of shopping and design. (Dominic Chavez/Globe Staff)

SOMERVILLE - The Number 87 bus stopped in Union Square, and despite the bitter cold, Joseph D'Ambrose stepped off the bus and lingered at the window of Grand.

"Do you know what it is?" the 62-year-old asked another bystander. "I see a big horse on the wall."

Had D'Ambrose been brave enough to step inside the Union Square store, he would have seen that Grand is the kind of shop that thrives in Brooklyn, Nob Hill, or the South End. But a gift and home furnishings store is an entirely new entity in this rough-hewn section of the city, especially one stretched over 1,800 square feet in a former auto-body shop.

"The South End has more stores that fit this vibe," says Jonathan O'Toole, Grand's CEO. "I didn't want to compete against them, and I didn't want to go into a market with more established places like that. I think this is a great spot because Union Square is changing. There's an onslaught of new businesses opening by young-ish entrepreneurs."

Grand, located in a building that has been everything from a movie theater to a Salvation Army store, carries lines such as Thomas Paul, Sukie, Lotta Jonsdotter, Pocketo, and Rock Scissor Paper. The three owners behind the store have no prior experience in retail, other than a fondness for good design and a love of shopping.

"I'm really into design, I'm really into art, and I've always loved fashion," says Wendy Friedman, Grand's chief merchandiser. "So I picked things that I liked. Initially we started out as home furnishings only, and then I thought 'But I really like these clothes, and we have the space for it.' For me, it's really about lots of different things that are design-oriented, yet functional."

Friedman, O'Toole, and Adam Larson, Grand's creative director, all met 10 years ago while working at the record label Rykodisc in Salem. After the label left Massachusetts, the three 33-year-olds went to work in advertising. Currently, Friedman is an art director at Hill Holliday, O'Toole is a founder of the marketing company BzzAgent, and Larson recently left Arnold Worldwide to start his own studio called Adam&Co. He has created logos for hotspots such as the Enormous Room and the restaurant Myers + Chang. He also created all of the branding for Grand.

"We're trying to act like a big boy department store, like Nordstrom or Macy's," says O'Toole. "But on a much smaller scale. That's why it looks like we have the characteristics of a department store, just shrunk down."

Given the large space, Grand's owners plan to experiment with their merchandising mix. The store now sells stationery, pillows, plates, T-shirts, and gift items. At some point, Friedman says they would like to use the ample wall space to display art. There's also talk of selling furniture, more clothing, and hosting parties. Their willingness to experiment led Grand to a US exclusive: It's the first store in the United States to carry Feiyue sneakers, which began in Shanghai and found a following in France.

O'Toole acknowledges that it's a risk to open a store like Grand in Union Square, but he lives in the neighborhood and thinks the store will be embraced.

"I look at Union Square and I remember what Inman Square was like five or 10 years ago," he says. "I can see Union heading in that direction."

GRAND is located at 374 Somerville Ave., 617-623-2429, grandthestore.com.