Reflected everywhere in the new surroundings of Underground on Main Street is the beloved store’s original “why” - Maureen Rivard’s belief that there was a need in town for style options that leaned “hipper, funkier, edgier, not quite so conservative.” No matter your age, she says, “we can still have fun in how we dress and we can still look cool and edgy and funky and show our personality. I’m very happy to say that the age range of our client base is twenties to eighties. And we take a lot of pride in that.”
When Rivard got to work updating the former Rodier space on Main Street, she was in familiar territory. Calling up the memory of M. Rivard Vintage Home, she tells us, “22 years ago, the very first shop I ever had in Ridgefield was in this space.”
It was the beginning of a retail career that, more than 20 years on, has thrived from one incarnation to the next. After selling M. Rivard due to a full schedule, she says, “then of course I missed it.” So she opened French Market, a home furnishings venture down the street near the location of present-day Chez Lenard. The economic sucker punch of 2008 changed things again, just as Rivard was fortunate enough to get out of her lease. For the next 10 years, she focused on personal interior design work, and has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, and Flea Market Style Magazine to name a few. Six years ago she opened Underground next to Ross Bread and after building a loyal clientele with her eclectic collection, word came that Ross was expanding, meaning Underground would have to move out. “I honestly thought about just closing and being done; I sat with that for a couple of weeks and really got sad,” she says. “I mean, I really felt it. And I knew - no, that’s not an option.”
Rivard’s relaxed, easy manner belies her tenacity. It wasn’t necessarily her first choice to head back to her original haunt, only because she knew it would require a lot of work to bring her vision to life. However, along with her partner Steve Anderson, an artist and a potter whom she describes as “amazingly talented,” she thrives on design challenges and is no stranger to hard work. She and Anderson did the interior renovation themselves, and the results are extraordinary. The color palette is a mix of soothing creams and saturated blacks, with dark tin ceilings, light pine floors, and decor that is understated yet bold, a throwback to Rivard’s early days immersed in vintage home furnishings. The work is all Rivard and Anderson, but to stand in the new Underground is to feel like it manifested itself. Like the store knows it was always meant to be here.
The team she has in place takes obvious delight in working closely with their clients. Tracey Baines, Quinn Caravella, and Jackie Debany have decades of collective experience in retail, fashion, and small business ownership. Their mantra is “Just keep an open mind.” Acknowledging that sometimes women can get stuck or assume something won’t look good - these are things they hear all the time. “All we ask is just keep an open mind, and try things on. Don’t be afraid to get in the fitting room,” says Rivard. There is also great pride taken in maintaining a collection that is both fresh and has something for everyone. As Caravella tells us, “[Rivard] has a great eye sourcing things you just don’t see anywhere else.”
Reopening Underground and being back on Main Street is like a homecoming for Rivard, and one that is going really well. There has been “great foot traffic, and I’m happy to say - so much has changed post-COVID in so many towns and certainly Ridgefield being one of them,” says Rivard. “I feel that Main Street has never been more vibrant, and shoring up all that growth is a real sense of community and stability. We couldn’t be happier; our new space and location are a perfect fit for us!”
"We can have fun in how we dress and still look cool, edgy, funky and show our personality."