Sitting prominently in the front window of "Porto," the new general store on Water Street, is a relic that hasn't left the building in nearly a century. It's the kind of eye-catching vintage Toledo scale you'd expect, considering the vision of Porto's proprietor, Justin Silva, has in mind for his fledgling endeavor.

The scale is a physical embodiment of the vibe Silva sees for Porto, which only opened a few weeks ago. It was originally owned by the Socha family, who ran Socha's Market out of the building from the 1880s until the 1960s.

Though other ventures occupied the space previously, Silva bought the location at 196 Water St. along side his brother Brandon in 2020 with the concept of returning it to its origins. He and Brandon went about renovating and restoring the space. And it was then that he found the antique device still sitting in the basement, seemingly waiting to be fit for purpose once more.

"I saw that scale down there, and I was like, when the time comes for this to be the business, that's going in the front," said Silva, co-owner and operator of Porto.

The scale is where it started, but to maintain the building's character, Silva felt the store’s bones needed to remain as they were when the Sochas owned it. A decades-old counter buried in the basement now holds a new marble top. And the general store’s inventory sits on the building’s original shelves, just with a fresh coat of paint.

"If I were to get rid of all of this stuff, like these shelves, and redo it, it would have just lost its character, and then it would’ve been just any other place."

Silva appreciates the uniqueness of the building. Being only the second family to own it since it was built in 1883, the Silvas have a deep understanding of its history and why it matters to the town.

“I only had one chance to get the feeling right,” Silva said. “I think the Sochas would be proud. That's part of why they sold us the house.”

Understanding the town's history comes naturally to Silva because he spent part of his childhood and teenage years here. Justin and Brandon’s mother, Paula, moved the family to Warren from Somerset, Mass., in the '90s, when they were kids.

After college, Silva left for California, where he spent 15 years in reality television, climbing from an assistant's job at MTV to an executive producer role at Animal Planet. Then, in 2018, he came back to be closer to his family.

Living in Los Angeles gave him another perspective on his hometown. After coming back, Silva felt what it was that made Warren different, especially the history it carried with it. He could feel the community that has long driven the economy, and wanted to honor that along with the Sochas in his store.

"Porto just means port in Portuguese, and Warren has long been a port town where goods come and go," Silva said. "So it kind of felt relevant, given my Portuguese background, and the connection to the working waterfront — the water, and goods coming in, goods going out. It made sense to call it Porto."

But Silva didn’t just stick to history for history’s sake. He feels an older, slower lifestyle is something people want. Justin sees it in his customers when they walk through the door.

"I think more than anything, it's a feeling that people are yearning for," he said.

It shows up in the small choices he's made. While coffee was one of the first things to be sold, Porto’s coffee menu remains extremely restrained, offering just iced or hot.

"I didn't want it to be a coffee shop by any means," Silva said. "I don't want to be making tons of different drinks." Instead, he relies on a carefully curated inventory. "I can't compete with Amazon. I can't be competing with Shaw's."

Silva said. "So I think having the staples, but having them be unique and different, is the key.

That philosophy sits right on the original shelves. Though there are everyday staples one would expect from a neighborhood shop, Silva has included nostalgic items like Necco Wafers and Swedish Fish candies. They share space with bamboo toothbrushes, eco-friendly toilet paper, and woven towels that are made in Portugal, as well as other Portuguese staples like sardines and olive oil. There's even a refill station in the back, where customers can bring their own bottles for soap. None of it is designed to maximize what the store can sell.

"I'm not trying to maximize profits here," Silva said. "I'm trying to be a place where community members can come in, have conversations, and I have products that they like.”

Silva also takes pride in the quiet, outdoor patio he's created in the rear of the store, complete with tables meant for sitting and relaxing.

"It's not just a place where you could come and shop," Silva said. "It's like a place where you can linger."

Leaving the fast-paced TV industry behind has also given him a different kind of life from the one he led in Los Angeles.

"It's a slow life right now," Silva said. "I'm trying to live that old-school merchant [life]."

Rather than looking to expand the business, Silva's goal is simply to keep Porto as it is. And he hopes that’s something people can feel.

"They walk away happy, they linger for a little bit," Silva said, "and then just see if I can just maintain that for 30 years."

— Rouette, a resident of East Providence, is a sophomore majoring in Journalism at the University of Oregon and interning this summer with The Times-Gazette.