A touring musician is Greenport’s silver salesman

Retired touring musician Michael Verni abandoned his rock roots to sell heavy metal. 

The city-raised Southold resident opened Silver by the Sea (29 Front St., 631-477-6548) in Greenport in the summer of 2023. He is finding his footing there after 34 years selling artisan silver jewelry in Freeport. The move was something he’d always dreamed of. 

“I learned to swim 64 years ago when I was 5, less than a quarter of a mile from where we’re standing,” said Mr. Verni. “My earliest memories are coming out here [to Greenport].”

Mr. Verni’s musical story started at 6 years old, when he first picked up a guitar. Through his late teens, twenties and thirties, he toured with well-known artists and bands, as well as with groups of his own.

While on the road, he purchased a plethora of jewelry, feeding his love for accessories. He ultimately began selling some of his collection at pop-up shows.  

His father, Frank Verni, was an artist who grew in popularity later in life and was curating and collecting pieces for an art gallery. When he died in 1986, he left behind a storage unit full of frames, paintings and prints. Mr. Verni and his mother were at a loss as to what to do with the art. 

At the time, Mr. Verni was making decent money touring and selling his jewelry collection. His accountant advised him to find a tax write-off. That suggestion sparked the idea for a shop to sell his father’s collection. 

“I’m thinking in my head, I need a tax write-off: What loses money? Art sales,” he said.

In 1991, he and his mother, Anna Verni, opened Frank’s Art Shop on the Nautical Mile, along Woodcleft Avenue in Freeport. 

“It was a little cottage over the water on pilings,” said Mr. Verni. “You had to walk on a little bridge to get to the shop. It was so cool.”

He started selling jewelry from the shop as well, renaming it Frank’s Art and Jewelry Boutique. Still a touring musician at the time, Mr. Verni was buying and selling pieces from Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand.  

The business took off, and Mr. Verni took a step back from the music industry in 1994. That same year, he went back to school to become a silversmith.

In 2018, crime in the area around his store skyrocketed. He decided it was time to move out East to his home in Southold, which he’d been renting out since 1991. 

After a few new potential shop locations on the North Fork fell through, COVID put a temporary halt on Mr. Verni’s his silver business.  But as soon as shops opened back up, he found his current Front Street location, next door to Ralph’s Italian Ices, just as his Freeport store was. 

“I knew God was trying to send me a message,” he said. 

Silver by the Sea, an artisan silver jewelry store, came to be. Mr. Verni reestablished industry connections, continued acquiring antique pieces, and went back to school to become a silversmith. 

Swing by now and find historic products, vintage and costume jewelry, guitars, handmade chains from Mexico, Harley Davidson garb, old monks’ belongings and other interesting accessories. 

“I specialize in odd stuff,” said Mr. Verni.

His silver cross collection is so vast that it attracts clergy from afar.  Some other items include 1850s watches in mint condition, eyeball rings made by Mr. Verni and 1930s modernist movement necklaces, to name just a small portion of his stock. 

The vibe of the shop is that of a gallery. There’s plenty to explore and discuss with the proprietor, who’s either at the counter or at his bench, repairing jewelry for customers. 

“I’m just blessed to be back to work and to raise my family out here,” he said. “I couldn’t pray for anything more.”

Silver by the Sea is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Give the store a ring before you stop by, Mr. Verni suggested, just in case.