Carol and I stopped in at “Swan,” a new store on Union Street just across from First Unitarian. A woman said hello to us as we walked in.

“Are you the owner?” said Carol to the woman.

“No,” she said, laughing, “but we’ve known each other for years Our sons grew up together. Starting with T-ball, and now they’re in high school. I’m Lisa.”

We introduced ourselves. Lisa told me she appreciates the Wayside Pulpit sign in front of the church, with its changing sayings and proverbs.

“It makes my week,” she said. “I look forward to seeing the new one.”

“I’ll tell Arthur, the sexton, that you like it,” I said, “tell him to pick out good ones for you.”

Lisa said she has talked to the owner about opening the store on Sunday. That led us into a discussion on why downtown New Bedford is so empty on Sundays. Carol and I see people wandering around the downtown on Sunday, having finished with the museums and the national park, looking for something to do. If all the store owners decided to open up, eventually the downtown would probably generate enough additional pedestrian traffic to make it worthwhile to open up. But only a few stores stay open, and when they don’t make a success of it, everyone says that downtown New Bedford is dead on Sunday. And so Carol and I see those people wandering around the downtown, looking for something to do.

Which took us into a discussion of downtown rents.

“One downtown landlord is charging $14 to $17 a square foot,” said Carol.

Lisa shook her head disgustedly.

“I know,” said Carol. “You can charge those kind of rents in Cambridge, maybe, but not here.”

“My grandmother owned a triple-decker in Boston,” said Lisa. “Her philosophy was you don’t need to get top dollar for rent. It’s better that you find good tenants that you can trust. She’d say, I’d rather have a good tenant who takes care of the place, someone that I can depend on, than get a high rent.”

“Some New Bedford landlords should pay attention to that,” said Carol darkly.

We spent some time looking around Swan. They have some great things — funky furniture, collectibles, prints, odds and ends. Carol almost bought a bowl, and I was eyeing a framed print, but in the end we didn’t buy anything. I suspect we’ll go back soon though….

Update: As of August, 2006, Swan is gone…. closed for good.