"The Informant" (video): Greg Fricke of Peggy Mercury on the need to feed individuality.
The business of "impeccable cool" is what my most creative friend of 20 years is generating at the Kent Barns in Connecticut. Let's see how.
Greg Fricke and I became friends circa 2007 when we were boogying the pre-dawn hours away in downtown Manhattan. It’s all a bit blurry, as I was wearing champagne goggles at the time, so don’t hold me to the details. I was an art history student at New York University (or was it that I was already getting my Master’s Degree at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art?) and Greg was building his career into what would soon be a top fashion model scout and agent at an internationally leading firm. We’d work and study by day, me at my apartment on Union Square and he in a constant state of motion that mimicked the 24-hour lifestyle of editorials and runways.
We were wingman and wingwoman on the dim dance floor, and supportive companions in the broad daylight that is searching for your adult self in NYC.
Even back then, there was something undeniably special about Greg, to which I was drawn. He was, and remains, perhaps the least judgmental person I’ve ever met—humble, patient, giving, and forgiving. And quietly so.
Fast forward to 2025. Greg and I have each progressed on from the versions of ourselves we were in our youth, and yet are more finely tuned into who we really are. We moved on, but not away. Which is why it was so gratifying to come back together for a series of conversations to share with you. (And a series it certainly was, as I had such unfortunate technical difficulties that Greg was kind enough to film pretty much the same one-hour conversation with me three times over… Thank you, Greg!)
Greg is now the mastermind, along with his partner in life and business, of Peggy Mercury.
Peggy, as it is lovingly called, is a concept store in Kent, Connecticut featuring the ultimate in expressive style with accessories (punched leather handbags), skincare and perfume (those exotic scents we’re not cool enough to name), vintage couture and jewelry pop-ups, and even contemporary art installations, plus more.
More than a brick-and-mortar, Peggy is a launch pad for experience, hosting events for its community including An Evening of Scent and Sound to launch a fragrance, the exhibition opening of Fragmented Beauty by a New York based artist, and a Movement Class and Mini Performance by the New England Ballet Theater. Swoon.
In this kinetic digital age, retail shops can feel so stagnant. But Greg and James have unleashed Peggy into a hot house for all things dynamically cool, drawing directly on their own imaginations, successful careers (paralleling Greg’s success in the fashion world, James was in the cosmetics world Global Artistic Director at Shiseido and Director of Artistry at NARS), friendships with brand founders, and insatiable need for utter individuality. Things to which we should all aspire.
In our ranging conversation, which I’ve broken down into video clips, Greg and I trade experiences and insights that we hope are useful to those watching who feel inspired to launch a creative project:
Greg and James spent a quick four months building Peggy Mercury, but the idea first sparked back in 2017. We discuss the pressure many feel to birth a creative business seemingly overnight, as well as the benefits of both taking your time and of putting an artificial deadline on yourself to just go for it.
Where to find inspiration in an age where the internet is the ultimate resource, but you do not want to fall its prey to comparing yourself to others.
Ways to avoid burn out when it is your livelihood to be creative, especially now when so many people feel inspired to launch a creative hobby, but soon realize the pressure to be consistently and constantly imaginative is much harder than it looks.
The “power of purpose”—identifying how your creative project can be of service as a path to success, including because the community of appreciators will naturally find you, alleviating pressure to market to them on a social media hamster wheel.
The meaning behind the name “Peggy Mercury,” including both the artistic inspiration and future business prospects.
Have you ever built something out of nothing? Have you ever picked up the keys to an empty box and filled it with the people and products that make your heart sing? Have you ever wondered if you were taking the long road, when really you were in the fast lane to exactly where you’re meant to be? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to move to a new town, surrounded by heritage New England style and prep school kids, to build your own little world from scratch? Something all your own. Something utterly and uniquely you.
Greg has. Let’s ask him how.
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