The bad news at Ruinations is that the shop suffered considerable damage from Hurricane Wilma, according to Zorzi. About a third of the rear portion of the roof was affected, leading to leaks and flooding, and on the day of my visit, the air-conditioning system still wasn't fully repaired. These problems, coupled with power outages, forced the store to close for three weeks.
Fortunately, there's good news too. Ruinations recently — as in around the time of Hurricane Katrina — more or less doubled in size, to nearly 5,000 square feet. The expansion was made possible by a sudden vacancy in the space next door, formerly occupied by a store specializing in Scottish merchandise that never seemed to be open anyway. The extra window-display space provides for a greater visual presence in the plaza, and Zorzi says sales had skyrocketed before Wilma and, with any luck, will soon resume.
This expansion is just the latest for the guys, who earlier this year also added a location in North Carolina and last year opened a shop near Target in the Coral Ridge Mall. Although much of the merchandise is the same at the mall site, that place just doesn't seem to have the same feel as the original Ruinations, which has a warmth and coziness that have, surprisingly, been enhanced by the extra space there.
Some of that space is being used for an expanded selection of ceramics and glassware. One knockout is a massive ceramic platter from Poland, featuring a big, red, sunlike spot, slightly off-center, encircled by red and orange rings. There are also lots of lovely vases, including a tall, broad cylinder made of glass blanketed with a dense network of tiny, spidery lines.
The art at Ruinations remains mostly of the decorative variety, although I noticed some new works in one side gallery, including some pleasingly simple abstracts emphasizing shape, texture, and color. A batch of large canvases, however, left me cold, even one of a pair of rugged cowboys, perched side by side on a railing, who almost look like an inadvertent plug for the upcoming (and much-talked-about) homoerotic Western Brokeback Mountain. And the shop was also going into its festive holiday mode, which the guys do quite well but which also leaves this Scrooge unmoved. Still, this is a place worth multiple visits to find out what's new...
newtimesbpb.com | originally published: December 1, 2005
Our ad in Southern Lady - September/October 2005
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