Stuart Kingston Gallery leaving the Boardwalk

Since 1930, the Stein family has operated the Stuart Kingston Gallery auction house and antique showroom on the north end of the Rehoboth Boardwalk near the Henlopen Hotel.

Proving the adage that the only constant in life is change, the longtime family-run business is set to discontinue selling fine rugs, downsize its auction business and move to a Coastal Highway location over the winter, said Stuart Kingston President Mauria Stein.

“I’m excited for new beginnings, but it’s bittersweet to leave town,” Stein said. “Our family business has been here for almost 100 years, but we have to change with the times.”

Summer sales were abysmal, Stein said, noting she is not yet able to disclose the new location or the closing date for the Boardwalk site. 

All rugs, except a select few she will take to the new store, are being offered at a 50 percent or more discount until they’re gone, Stein said.

“Once you could buy rugs online, it killed brick-and-mortar,” Stein said.

Most rugs sold online are machine-made and lack the quality of those weaved on a loom, Stein said. Fine rugs can take months to years to create on a loom, she said, while machines churn them out much quicker.

Her inventory includes classical, traditional rugs from Iran, India, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Nepal, with a few modern styles as well, she said. Most rugs are new, with a few estate pieces mixed in. Sizes range from 1-by-2-feet car mats to 20-foot palace rugs in a variety of styles.

“It’s going to break my heart when we’re not doing this, because my dad sent me away to learn the industry, but we have to move on with the times,” she said.

For two years, Stein studied in London under Jack Francis, a leading authority in the international trade of rugs, carpets and tapestries, where she learned to discern a rug’s origin based on its colors and the way it was woven. 

“I was the only woman there,” she said. “They told me by the end of my training, I could be blindfolded and be able to tell where a rug came from by its smell. It’s a beautiful art that’s dying.”

Stein said she will miss going to customers’ homes to get a feel for their style and then helping them pick out a rug that suits their space.

“I’ve literally helped thousands of people contribute to making their homes beautiful, but I just can’t do it anymore,” she said, referring to the physical work involved with transporting heavy rugs.

Regular estate auctions will also be discontinued, Stein said, but she may hold one big auction a year at the new location. Stuart Kingston’s auctions were particularly popular during the 1950s when founder Maurice Stein and business partner Sydney Cohan conducted weekly events on the Boardwalk; the practice continued until the late 1970s. 

Before the move, Stein plans to hold a farewell auction in February. 

“I’ve been doing this for 38 years, and it’s getting too hard for me,” she said. “And, I have evolved. Now, I love estate jewelry and designing jewelry. I love having jewelry here that no one else has.”

Stuart Kingston’s planned departure from downtown Rehoboth Beach follows the recent and upcoming exodus of at least two other longtime businesses.

In August 2020, Nick Caggiano Sr. said Nicola Pizza, which he founded with his late wife Joan in 1971, will move from its First Street location to a new facility just south of Five Points in Lewes. 

On Jan. 31, Dolle’s Candyland officially closed its doors on the Boardwalk after nearly 100 years and moved to the ocean block of Rehoboth Avenue. Dolle’s new manufacturing facility is planned to be constructed along Route 1 north of Lewes.

To learn more, go to stuartkingston.com.