Ramsey Gift Shop Specializes In Quirky Quality

RAMSEY, N.J. — If gold buddhas, Jersey Girl hook rugs and ladybug houses catch your fancy, odds are OLIVE 54 on West Main Street in Ramsey could be your home away from home.

Ivy Becker, left, and Pam Greenberg in the garden at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

A zinc flower at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

A gold buddha at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

Fun pillows at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

One entrance to OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

Items for a meditation room at OLIVE 54, including the shop's own Meditation Room candle.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

Pam Greenberg holding a Provencal serving board.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

A view of the garden at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

Whimsy in the garden store at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

A garden accoutrement for sale at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

A variety of houses for birds, bees, ladybugs, butterflies, and more, at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

A tray from the enamel line at OLIVE 54.
Photo Credit: *Lorraine Ash*

Lorraine Ash

08/20/2016 7:30 a.m.

“When people come in, they tell us they want to move in,” said co-owner Pam Greenberg of Tenafly.

“It’s happy here. It’s fun,” she added. “It’s an experience.”

Everything in the downtown corner shop, a restored 1920s home, invites a second look.

There’s a black-and-white photo of Audrey Hepburn in an oval green bejeweled frame, pillow collections, zinc flowers, jewelry, accessories and much more.

Ivy Becker of Franklin Lakes, the other co-owner, pointed out large Provencal serving boards.

“I just came back from France last week and that is the way everything is being served,” she said. “It’s the farm-to-table look. We just love those.”

The two women met in Becker’s former shop – Pip: Pop In Please – in Franklin Lakes.

Both have an eye for design. Becker is a former accessory editor at Vogue. Greenberg worked as a buyer and designer for major department stores, including Macy’s and Target.

In 2012, the duo opened OLIVE 54, a house and gift shop. A year later, they opened the garden and expanded to sell outdoor statuary and accessories. They choose items made of materials with integrity – sterling silver and gold.

“North Jersey is the hub of big box stores,” Becker said. “So we never order from manufacturers who will end up there. We do the shows that most other people don’t travel to do.”

She also brings in items she finds during her world travels.

The two have — quite intentionally — made the store an experience.

“It’s music, it’s fragrance, it’s vibe,” Becker said, “because, otherwise, you could go online.”

The two women follow the trends of the day, currently picking up on vintage, farm-to-table and spiritual themes. There are many items to enhance a meditation room.

OLIVE 54 created “The Meditation Room,” its own candle made up of fragrances that help create a calm frame of mind, including patchouli, lavender, jasmine.

The merchandise also engages people with “a bit of wit,” as Becker likes to say. Its napkins are downright funny, as is its line of New Yorker greeting cards.

Coming soon to the shop are fall planters and a line of lifesize Buddhas and bodhisattvas from northern Java.

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