This article originally appeared in The Maynard Grapevine

A reconnaissance mission to Northampton uncovers Maynard’s furniture-filled future.

My teenager and I were meeting my friend Melissa and her own teenager in Northampton because it’s a lovely place to visit—a kind of Maynard on a much larger scale. Since they were traveling a few hours to get there, we planned to make it an overnight and came up with a list of spots we might like to explore.

Melissa’s family lived in Maynard for many years (she really misses it, by the way), so she’s still very interested in what’s happening here. I had mentioned to her that the old Paper Store building in Maynard had sold—and that it had been bought by a furniture store based in Northampton. You see where I’m going with this, right? So Fly By Night—the furniture store that’s coming to Maynard—became our first stop after lunch.

As we approached the store, I noticed the two tones of green on the façade—the very same colors I’d seen being painted on the new Maynard location just the Friday before. Somehow, that made it all feel more real.

We walked through the front door, and all the employees at the service counter turned to look at us. I smiled and announced, “I am a spy—I’m from Maynard!”  Laughter followed, and a tall guy in glasses and a plaid shirt came over to introduce himself. Sean told me he’d be moving to our area to help run the new store, and he offered to give us a tour.

I have to admit, I was immediately impressed. The space was bigger than I expected and filled with sofas and chairs in gorgeous colors and beautiful fabrics. Sean showed us a clever sleeper sofa design where a memory foam mattress folds out from the back and base—hard to describe, but easy to appreciate once you see it. I started wondering if it might be time to replace the one in our family room.

Upstairs, we found bedroom and dining sets that had a kind of elegant hominess—if that makes any sense. One dresser had a surface with a natural pearlescent glow in the wood grain. I was even asked to try out a simple but elegant wooden chair that was impossibly comfortable.

Sean offered to put me in touch with his boss, the founder of Fly By Night, so I’ll get back to you with more details soon. But for now, just know this: if you’re thinking about getting new furniture, you might want to wait until they arrive in town, which may not be too far off.