Ginny Gattle Mooney was wandering the cobblestone streets of Italy’s pastel-hued Cinque Terre when a sign for the historic Via dell’Amore walking path stopped her in her tracks. She scribbled down its wise words: “The future has an ancient heart.” The message reminded her of her own mission.
In the days prior, she had met with seamstresses to sample vintage lace for the new Gattle’s Fine Linens private-label bedding, one of the ways she’s guiding her family’s business through Southwest Florida’s evolving landscape. “It’s the people that make a place,” Ginny says. “The heart of the people, even with the changes, is what stays.”
Her father, Tom Gattle Jr., took the reins of the more than 100-year-old company in 2016 after his father, Tom Sr., the longtime owner, passed away. A few years later, Ginny joined as consulting creative director to help modernize the legacy store. She’s intent on preserving her grandfather’s people-first philosophy while bringing the shop into a design-forward era that balances heirloom craftsmanship with contemporary living.
Drawing on her background in merchandising and marketing, Ginny has reimagined the shopping experience at Gattle’s, which maintains locations in Naples and Michigan. The Third Street South store, opened in 1962, has evolved from a product-heavy boutique into a refined, gallery-like showroom. Vignettes now show linens and home goods in use—tables styled with handcrafted ceramic serveware from Ginori 1735, a legacy Italian brand Ginny recently introduced, set alongside linen placemats from Matouk, a family-run company the Gattles have partnered with for generations. Napkin rings and other accents allow hosts to update their tables between seasons.
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Photography by Christina Bankson
Candle sticks in glass holder gattles naples
Gattle’s Fine Linens has operated a showroom on Third Street South for more than 60 years. German immigrant Henrietta Gattle founded the company in Cincinnati in 1919, establishing a legacy of high-quality, artisan-made fabrics and personalized service.
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Photography by Christina Bankson
Gattle's naples Fine Linens bed display
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Photography by Christina Bankson
Gattle's Fine Linens gold tablescape
Near the entrance, a plush bed dressed in the store’s linen collection mixes pieces from Gattle’s new private label with long-carried heritage brands, reflecting Ginny’s aim to connect old and new. “As a culture, we need soft places to land,” she says. Surrounding displays layer in sleepwear, candles, towels and bath accessories to showcase how it all fits in a primary suite.
The shop began more than a century ago, when German immigrant Henrietta Gattle sold imported lace curtains to her Cincinnati neighbors. In 1919, she opened a storefront with her son, Otto, who later trained his son, Tom Sr. Otto’s buying trips to Italy introduced the family to the artisans and materials that became hallmarks of the shop. When Gattle’s expanded to Naples, Tom Sr.’s gracious charm and hospitality made the Third Street South shop a local institution. (Ginny’s father reopened the Michigan location in 2019.)
Photography by Christina Bankson
Photography by Christina Bankson
Photography by Christina Bankson
Photography by Christina Bankson
Ginny, who grew up in Louisiana, recalls childhood visits to Naples and the magnetism of her grandfather’s presence. “You felt special, you felt seen, you felt like you were surrounded by special things,” she says. When she married more than two decades ago, her grandfather gifted her a set of Gattle’s towels that remain in the family’s rotation. “I wrapped my babies up in them when they were little, and now I fold [the towels] for them as teenagers,” she says.
Working with the buying team, Ginny taps into her great-grandfather’s affinity for European craftsmanship with the store’s private label, which started rolling out last fall. The debut line features crisp percale and silky sateen sheet sets handcrafted by Italian seamstresses who’ve honed their skills over decades. Lace-trimmed versions and colorful sets will follow, with plans to eventually expand into table linens.
More than a century after Henrietta Gattle sold her first lace curtains, her influence still threads through the store. In Ginny’s hands, Gattle’s feels both rooted and renewed, a brand shaped by time and the belief that what’s most enduring in the future begins with what’s held onto from the past.
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Photography by Christina Bankson
Gattle's Fine Linens throw pillows
As Gattle’s enters a new, design-forward era, Ginny is cautious not to lose the spark of the original store. “You felt special, you felt seen,” she recalls of childhood visits to the Naples location.
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Photography by Christina Bankson
Gattle's Fine Linens samples