What’s in Store: Acquire

Nikki Dalrymple, owner of new North End home boutique Acquire, is totally someone you’d want to be friends with. She’s super-friendly. She has funny stories about reporting on women’s rodeos, thanks to a former life as a documentary producer. And she has great taste.

We recently asked the former Good shop girl to fill us in on the modern-meets-cozy wares that fill her narrow Salem Street shop. Perhaps her oddest selection? It’s called the Ecosphere.

The blown-glass spheres, designed by NASA scientists, house tiny self-sustaining ecosystems. Consider them organic objets d’art—or low-maintenance pets.

“It’s such a working-girl cliché, but it’s true: I’m absolutely horrible at keeping anything alive,” Dalyrymple says. “Luckily, the plants, shrimp, and algae inside the Ecosphere can survive for two years with total neglect. There’s also a certain amount of nostalgia involved—it’s a modern take on the classic sea monkeys.”

To see the rest of Dalrymple’s picks, check out the winter issue of Boston Home.

Ecospheres, available in small, medium, and large, $65-$325, at Acquire, 61 Salem St., Boston, 857.362.7380, acquireboutique.com.