From Ray-Bans to Romance: Customer Turns Employee Turns Wife

Summer Shades turns 30 in Martha’s Vineyard.

In Hollywood parlance, Andrew and Sarah Aliberti met cute in 1991. He was the proprietor of a small, six-year-old sunglass shop in Martha’s Vineyard; she was a visitor with a pair of Ray-Bans that needed tightening. “I kept her around for awhile saying, oh, they aren’t quite right yet,” remembers Andrew. “I had a plan.” The couple became friends, and soon after Andrew hired Sarah to work in his store. One thing led to another, and 22 years ago they married. The couple’s Summer Shades is now a four-store, two-state operation, but the Vineyard store is a sentimental favorite. Despite the brutal Cape Cod winters, it’s open year-round. “People who live here don’t have a lot of options in the winter and I think it’s nice that when they come into town we’re open in the off-season,” says Andrew.

Read more and see images at Vineyard Gazette