Business
New Canaan Women Launch ‘On Brookside’ Tabletop Rentals
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It all started with a book club. The origin story of Ella Barnette and Jessica Merrill’s tabletop rental service is the stuff of small business dreams.
When Barnette and Merrill, co-founders of On Brookside, started a book club in 2023, their aptitude for creativity and aesthetics found a natural home in creating table settings and decorations for book club nights. Barnette has 20 years of experience in fashion and styling, and Merrill is a former wedding planner turned graphic designer.
“We were just putting together these really beautiful tablescapes and that led to conversations around, ‘I would love to own more plates and flatware and glasses, I either don’t have anywhere to store or all of it, or I don’t necessarily want to spend the funds to collect all of it, or I don’t really have the eye,’ ” said Merrill, who also used to run the social component of the New Canaan Newcomers Club. “It was just kind of a fun, creative expression for us… and we kind of had our own moment of being like, ‘Should we do this?’ ” Barnette added. “Because everyone’s reacting to it and giving us such a positive response.