In 2023, Jess Moak left behind a career as a program manager for large nonprofits to start her own interior design shop in Old Town.
The Erie County, New York, native opened her store Eries Interiors opened Eries Interiors at a 300-square-foot space at 101 S. St. Asaph Street in October 2024. The following month, a fire next door at 103 S. St. Asaph Street temporarily shuttered three women-owned businesses. The landlord spent nearly a year renovating the 1,800-square-foot space and approached Moak with a proposal to help design the interior and move in. Last October, Moak signed a five-year lease with an option to renew for another five years and opened in time for Black Friday at 103 S. St. Asaph Street.
“It was a great way to bring people into this new space,” Moak told ALXnow. “What drove me into this space was being able to expand with local art, to carry more furniture and to expand with local events.”
The main level of the home goods store is filled with original artwork, home decor and housewares, with a range of styles from early 20th-century brass to mid-century modern furnishings. The second floor has been converted into a meeting space for programming that can also be rented out for private events.
The shop works with approximately 50 vendors, and Moak said she does most of her buying in New York City and Atlanta.
“We’ve been able to do a nice collective mix,” Moak said, adding that tariff costs have not been astronomical with her foreign vendors. “It’s not that bad, because a lot of the companies where tariffs are problematic will do promotional things to offset the cost. It’s not dire by any stretch, but it’s something that you have to calculate in. It’s just annoying, mostly, because you want to buy things that are handcrafted and sometimes you’re limited.”
Moak has two children and lives in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County. After graduating from the University of Richmond, she says she moved to the area and took the first job she could find. She said she felt hollow in 2023 after being recognized by colleagues for 10 years of work at her previous job as a program manager at the American Petroleum Institute.
“I knew I was really good at putting together a room and people,” Moak said. “I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.”
