SCHEDULE: Happenings, A ReOpening, A Menu Revamp, And More... 7/24/2020
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Beacon Launches New Poster For Reopening (The Partial Reopening); Mayor To Walk Main Street 4th Of July
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Poster Design By Randall Martin
Max’s On Main rolled out the green carpet for patrons in their side “parklet.” Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Business and recreational life is all topsy-turvey at moment, but Beacon is making the best of it. During a holiday when business are normally closed on the 4th of July (like last year when it fell on a Thursday) leaving the city as a ghost town, this year, those who can open are thrilled to be open, and are rolling out the green carpet for diners to eat outside in the new “parklets,” which are the parking spots along Main Street outside of participating restaurants (see who is open this weekend - ALBB compiled the list!).
In a firework happy town (yes, people continue to blast off small fireworks from their driveways), there was the year when the fireworks almost didn’t happen because the organizers, the Kiwanis Club of Beacon, disbanded and the baton needed to be found and handed down to business owners who stepped up to the plate to fundraise. Due to COVID-19, fireworks in Memorial Park have been postponed.
Mayor’s Main Street Walk
The City of Beacon issued a press release announcing that Mayor Lee Kyriacou would be walking Main Street on Saturday to visit businesses. “Mayor Lee Kyriacou will walk the length of Beacon’s Main Street on Saturday July 4th. He will visit with business owners and patronize restaurants and stores along the way. The City has been assisting Main Street businesses with the phased reopening process, in particular developing additional safe outdoor space.”
Mayor Kyriacou said: “We’re facilitating the safe reopening of businesses through controlled expansion into targeted outdoor spaces. Our local businesses are the life blood of our Main Street and Beacon’s economy. Everything you need can be found at a local Beacon business.”
In the press release, Mayor Kyriacou stated that he created a Local Business Working Group. ALBB first reported on that group after Councilperson George Mansfield (owner of Dogwood) announced to the public and encouraged any business owner to join and participate. The group met on Tuesday mornings and was facilitated and attended by Councilperson George and Beacon’s City Administrator, Anthony Ruggiero. Businesses discussed outside alternatives for dining, and what safety precautions to have in place for retail. During different calls, Assistant to the County Executive, Ron Hicks was a featured guest to advise businesses about enforcement of safety guidelines. Ron expressed the hard position he is in as both an enforcer of rules, as well as a promoter of the Reopening. On the next call, the City’s law firm, Keane and Beane was on to present and answer legal questions.
“A lot of great ideas were discussed during the Working Group meetings,” City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero said in the press release. “The group’s intention was to create simple and immediate solutions for businesses in a unique climate. The visible outcomes were the parklet program – businesses expanded into parking spaces, and the Beacon Back Together branding campaign found in many storefronts.”
The poster for Beacon Back Together was designed by Randall Martin and spearheaded by Councilperson George.
Beacon Back Together - Sort Of
Left out of the business reopening are numerous storefronts who fall into the category of Gyms. This includes dance studios like Yanarella and Ballet Arts Studio; fitness studios like Studio Beacon and Zoned Fitness; yoga studios like BeBhakti (the hot yoga studio Pavonine has announced their sad but anticipated closure); and pilates studios like Beacon Pilates and Roc Pilates (so sorry if we did not mention anyone else in this brief mention).
Movie theaters are also in this designation - like Story Screen - and performance and education venues like Beacon Performing Arts and Compass Arts (sadly did leave their retail space, but are figuring it out in a digital and nomad outside destination way for now).
A Little Beacon Blog is currently looking into COVID-related commercial lease programs to see if landlords in Beacon have been using them (or if they exist), as several storefronts in and around Main Street are continuing to pay their rent for a space they are not allowed to use. Unlike homeowners who have been rescued by mandated mortgage relief programs.
Shopping In Beacon COVID-Style: Shop and Go! Here's What It's Like At The Boutiques
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Retail shopping is totally different in the time of COVID, as different businesses need to comply by different sets of standards. Boutiques and shops have been able to be open for a little bit now, experimenting with their new signage and policies. Big-box stores in malls, however, aren’t faring as well for the walk-in experience, as Phase 4 just got scaled back to keep malls closed in the name of ventilation (unless the store has its own outdoor entrance, like Dicks or Best Buy at the Poughkeepsie Galleria).
The boutiques did outstanding jobs at quickly getting their inventory online and putting all of their efforts into posting at Instagram and arranging for porch drop-offs. Now that the doors can open and people can go inside, shopping is much easier. But new rules remain.
As you shop, you’ll find required hand sanitizer at the door of each store. You’ll need to sanitize each time, with no excuses of: “I just sanitized my hands at the last store I was at next door!” While this thought did enter our minds too, as we visited 4 stores in 1 hour, it didn’t matter. Who wants to hassle a store owner when you have the privilege of walking into the shopping experience they set up for you.
Masks are asked for in every store, and Governor Cuomo did grant the store the right to deny you access. So mask up! Several stores on Main Street even sell the cutest masks for men and women, so you have no excuse if you forgot yours at home. Just buy a new one and help a maker! Check out A Little Beacon Blog’s Face Mask Gift Guide, but here are some hints: you’ll find face covers in Hyperbole, Blackbird Attic, Beacon Natural, La Mere, Zakka Joy, and a few other stores.
Shop ‘n Go. The social element to shopping is there, but stores have severely limited capacity. As stated in the sidewalk sign of Blackbird Attic, only 12 people are allowed in a store at one time. Be mindful by looking around, purchasing, and leaving. Do others a favor and touch as infrequently as possible. Some shops have appointment scheduling if you want guarenteed browsing time. Like Binnacle Books. You can book a time on their website, and go. But, if you’re walking by, do drop in! If no other customers are there, or if they haven’t hit their reduced capacity number, you can probably stay. And they want you to stay!
Guest Books. These are new COVID trackers. Stores are encouraged by New York State to put out a guest list for you to sign and date that you were there, for COVID tracking reasons, but filling it in is voluntary.
One of the main goals of these restrictions is to increase social distancing, and to increase ventilation inside of a store. If it gets too crowded, and if the air is getting thick, kindly step outside and wait for a different time.
LOCALS TIP: Do your boutique shopping during the week. You know it gets crowded on the weekends! Let the visitors do their thing, and enjoy your shops Monday-Thursday.
"Genius!" The Most Shoppable Window In Beacon Right Now Is At Echo Boutique
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Don’t all rush at once…space yourselves…but one of the most innovative shop windows in Beacon right now is at Echo Boutique at 470 Main Street, on the east end of town near the mountain. This boutiques with a wide curated selection of women’s clothing, kids toys, and some men’s accessories as well, was one of the first stores to voluntarily shut down - even before the Executive Order. Now, they are one of the first windows on Main Street to organize inventory in such a way that people can shop by number from the other side of the glass.
Owner Karen Donohue has a 14 year old daughter in school. When districts closed state-wide, so too did she on Main Street. Trouble is, Karen did not have a website to fall back on while her doors were closed, and remain closed during the phased reopening across the country and in Dutchess County specifically. But Karen is no newbie. She is a veteran of Main Street, having run her shop here for 19 years, always changing its inventory and display, depending on her mood and customer reactions. “I opened the shop a short while before 9/11 happened, so I wasn’t sure I’d survive. But I’m still here,” she tells A Little Beacon Blog. Karen also lives with Lyme disease, so summoning strength can at times be challenging.
“I started in a little 10x10 space as an art gallery next door to where the Korean deli, Seoul Kitchen, used to be.” That small storefront space she is referring to changed to a home brew beer shop for a minute, and is now part of No. 3 Reading Room & Photo Books Works, who bought the building and transformed it to an artist studio live/work space. “470 Main Street is my 3rd space on the east end of Main Street. I went from the little one to around the corner, which later became Waddle and Swaddle and is now Hyperbole. Then to my current spot at 470 Main Street, which is basically two storefronts in one.”
Extremely comfortable in the visual, physical space, Karen has a degree in photography from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and went on to be a prop stylist for almost a decade. Her window displays are known in Beacon for being extremely imaginative.
When she was comfortable with reopening in her own way, she and her daughter headed back into the store to bring as much as they could to display in the windows. Parents were eager to buy the toys she carries in the store, both to support her, and also to benefit from her educational and science-based selection.
Each item in the window is labeled in a box, and a sign with ordering instructions is taped in the window. Customers are told to snap a picture or simply text 845-863-3166 with what they want, and porch delivery within Beacon will be arranged. We can tell you this, however: this is a fraction of what you’ll find inside of Echo. Karen is always going to market to bring back new designers and toy makers. If you need something else, just ask her!
As for the lovely bras you see in the window, those are from The Bra Fit Expert, Christina (Tina) Faraj, who permanently pops up inside the shop with her wide selection of high quality women’s under things and comfy PJs. The benefit of Tina was her expert fitting, but if you contact her, she can telacoach you through a fitting christina.faraj@gmail.com.
When A Little Beacon Blog first shared a video of her shop in our Instastories, the positive reaction we received was swift. Several people shared heart eye emojis and explained: “Genius!”
What Beacon’s shop owners (and shop owners across the country) have done to stay connected to their customers has been astonishing. Many don’t qualify for unemployment because of their business entities, and applying for the PPP loan could be challenging, depending on what type of business they are. Translation: some businesses receive a fraction of stimulus funds, as some business owners are stuck between a rock and a hard place with how rules around these stimulus monies work and change on an almost daily basis.
Main Street business owners are always hustling hard, and they rose to the challenge of this crisis.
Shop Echo at 470 Main Street by shopping their window (spacially distance yourself), and look in their Instagram for product postings, as well as their Facebook.
Boutiques In Beacon Quickly Build Websites To Stay In Business On Main Street
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For some brick and mortar businesses, establishing an online presence pre-pandemic may not have been a priority. Walk-in business was good enough to keep them in business, so perhaps building an online website store was not needed. Plus, a shop owner is quite busy with customers who walk into the store, so spending a lot of time online to build a web shop is not easy. That all changed with the shutdown of Main Street back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when the doors shut and foot traffic disappeared.
Overnight, the digital way of reaching a customer was the only way to reach a customer. Any store without a social media presence on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok was cut off from their customer base (unless they had been sending newsletters, which is even less of a percentage). Anyone who did not have an ecommerce website lost the ability to sell to the customer stuck at home - looking for something to do, or who needed that special something only available at the boutique.
Some brick and mortar shops in Beacon have not committed to the daunting task of establishing an online presence - it could be because they think it’s too hard, or feel not tech-savvy enough. When once they felt it a waste of time and money if not enough customers use it, that percentage shifted as no customers are currently walking through the door.
Boutiques Build Their Webshops
A Little Beacon Blog traveled around the web to find new or enhanced websites that popped in some of Beacon’s Main Street businesses up post-pandemic. With so many resources available now to sell online, shop owners don’t need to be coding experts to get one up and running. Required, however, is a lot of patience to build it, and good ideas for how the shop owner wants the web shopping experience to flow. Below is a sampling of brick and mortars who expanded online:
Blackbird Attic
Website Platform: WordPress with WooCommerce
Blackbird Attic, a consignment shop on Beacon’s east end of Main Street, already had a website but didn’t convert it to an online store until recently. Prior to that, they utilized their Instagram account (@blackbirdattic) to host pop-up shops and gather sales through Instagram via Direct Messaging (DMs). Owner Michelle Caves-Deal tells us “Selling on Instagram definitely works - people like to see the items live in Instastories, They've said it feels like they’re back shopping in person…”
But this does come with some extra steps for shop owner Michelle in order for the sale to happen, like sharing additional details and photos with the customer prior to purchasing. Being a consignment shop, she needs to create two invoices, merchant account and one for the WooCommerce software they use for sales.
The Underground Beacon
Website Platform: WordPress, WooCommerce, eBay
2020 has already been a challenging year for The Underground Beacon, a well known comic book store with weekly comic book release days and in-person gaming events. First, they faced the risk of closing due to the usual pressures of personal life (family loss) and revenue streams to pay the rent, only to be saved by a new partner just earlier in March.
The shop has been hosting the weekly Magic The Gathering sessions on Zoom. They also created a website to sell t-shirts promoting love to the store in addition to selling comics through their eBay store.
Comic book shops were hit pretty hard when Diamond Comic Distributors - the main distributor for most comic book publishers including Marvel and DC Comics, announced a halt to all product distribution on March 23rd. This meant comic shops, like The Underground Beacon, would not get new merchandise coming in until further notice. Thankfully, at the beginning of May, Diamond announced they will resume distribution May 20th. Marvel and DC Comics have announced are being shipped to stores beginning in late May 2020.
Flora Good Times
Website Platform: Squarespace for the main website; Square for the Delivery Shopping
As we shared in this recent article, Corrine from Flora Good Times was concerned dealing with such a tactile store “from seeing the plants and flowers to the smell of the shop itself” she says “it was such an unknown for me whether or not people would continue to shop at Flora through the computer.” She created a second website through Square just for local orders. This was convenient since they also use Square for their point-of-service sales. “It is easy to integrate into your inventory and create a delivery radius..” Speaking personally as a customer, it was super easy to place an order for delivery (twice!).
Still a new business with just 8 months under its belt, the plan for an online shop was in the cards but current circumstances really rushed that project. “I find that a lot of people are looking to spruce up their homes during this time, and adding a plant or some flowers to their quarantine definitely appears very popular!” says Corrine.
RAVEN ROSE
Flower shops for the longest time relied upon centralized flower delivery websites to host their flower bouquet options. Raven Rose on Beacon’s east end of Main Street has a large space, most of which is filled with home goods, despite their large floral business. Years ago when owner Courtney Sedor bought the former floral shop that was located there, she relied upon a florist website service for her ecommerce, which locked her in into different template and selling options. After the COVID-19 shut-down, she dove in and put her home goods online, and now is part of the “release” news when a shop owner puts something new up on the website.
LAST OUTPOST STORE
Website Platform: Shopify
Getting a website up and running quick was a concern for a few businesses. When starting a brick & mortar business, a website could be on the to-do list but building it in stages like how Last Outpost Store was doing.
While timing was of the essence, the Last Outpost store still wanted their website to capture the feel and vibe of their shop, while wanting the online experience to be as close to the interior shopping experience as possible.
Co-owner Allison Cimino was able to finish the site 2.5 weeks after their March 17th shut-down. Allison shares with A Little Beacon Blog: “The response has been really good. The local delivery has been great as well. I have been learning just how many locals really love our shop. That alone really drives me to want to see through this so we can be there for all of our customers when we return!”
BINNACLE BOOKS
Website Platform: IndieCommerce (Drupal)
Binnacle Books, the small independent bookstore located in the middle of Main Street, always had a website, but did not always have the ability to shop on that website. They started with a form you could fill out if you wanted to order any book (possibly any book in the world?), and they would process the order. Different weeks into the pandemic brought different iterations of their website. First the ordering of any book got more advanced, and then their book collection appeared online in a searchable organized fashion. Binnacle Books offers a monthly membership that locks in a discount on book prices, and devised a way to make it easy to checkout without using your credit card so that the shop keepers could credit it against your monthly membership card on file.
LUXE OPTIQUE
Website Platform: Squarespace
While Luxe Optique always had a website, they were dependent upon walk-in foot traffic. Glasses fitting on your face is a personal, physical experience. Over the years, they added the ability to buy the frames online in their Collections section of the website, and even play with the SALE button to give shoppers a discount. Luxe Optique confirms to A Little Beacon Blog that they have seen an increase to the eCommerce section during this time, and they have more to come: online contact lens ordering. “Not only can you order from us using a prescription from our doctors, but you can also use prescriptions from any other practice,” Luxe Optique tells A Little Beacon Blog. “It might seem common, but it’s not something a lot of privately owned practices do. We can’t wait for that to launch. Should be soon!”
While having an online presence allows you to expand your customer reach outside of the immediate area, it appears to be a pleasant surprise to shop owners that local residents are taking advantage and showing their support. Local customers love their shops, connecting with the owners, and want to support any way they can.
Visit A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide for a list of all of the shops on Beacon’s Main Street.
Shopping In Target During The Early Reopening Vibes - Plus Their Makeover (Tip: Don't Go On The Weekends)
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Desperate times called for desperate measures. My daughter had completed a lot of jobs around the house to earn enough money to order two outfits from the Target brand American Girl Doll series, Our Generation. Persistently, she earned the money, researched the outfits, and had us place the order online for curbside pickup at Target. Finally it arrived via email notification, and it was ready for pickup. Trouble is, we weren’t ready to drive up to the store in Poughkeepsie until days later, and that’s when the next email came in on a Sunday: “You missed your pickup window, and your items have been placed back on the shelf, and your order refunded.”
#ParentFail. The Sunday that the refund email came, I got into the car and headed up Route 9, mask and wipes in hand, to go inside of Target to get those outfits back off the shelf. At the time, Target had a corner in the front of the store that contained bags of orders, similar to how they do it at Christmas when orders from other stores get shipped to yours for pickup. This corner has since been replaced with swimwear, but at the time, it’s what a store associate searched through to find the outfits.
The outfits weren’t there, so I went deeper into the store, all the way to the Kid section, to sadly not find those outfits, but did find two others that would work. It was 6pm on a Sunday, and foot traffic in the store was low. Social distancing felt fine. In the name of journalism, I headed back to Target the following Sunday at 2:30pm to test a busier time, days after the May 15th Reopening Day in New York.
Social distancing had gone out the window at Poughkeepsie’s Target. Being used to Beacon’s vibe of politely moving out of the way for each other in the social distance dance, this two-step wasn’t really happening here, yet. There were some COVID-19 changes, however.
Clothing, Beauty and Book Isles Are More Spacious
Target in Poughkeepsie used to have some very cramped clothing isles. So cramped in fact, that a Target shopping cart wouldn’t fit through. Those isles have since been cleared out a bit, and the feeling is more breathable. The Beauty section has been opened up, where once it too had corners so tight, the cart would barely turn the corner. The books, which were crammed into the back of the Electronic section, have been brought out more into the Toy section, so browsing through them is easier and more spacious.
The entire Sports section has been moved and replaced with Pets, yet in the back corner of the store, which is usually reserved for changing seasons (think Back To School, Christmas Decorations, Patio Furniture) also has more room to browse. When asked if these more spacious changes were COVID-19 related, a store associate answered that they were planned in the works the before the pandemic hit, and just happened to be COVID-19 friendly. ALBB has not confirmed with Target Corporate yet to see if this layout change really was a coincidence, but if we get confirmation, this article will be updated.
The main isle of Target is still crowded, with people moving in any direction, not minding how close they are moving past each other. Another citizen shopper reports in to A Little Beacon Blog that at Adams, just down the Route 9 strip, isles have been marked with direction arrows, and the number of people allowed into the store at Adams has been limited.
Masks and Cleaning Inside Of Target
Signs posted at the entrance tell everyone to wear a mask inside of Target. Most everyone had one on, and at one point, an announcement came over the loud-speaker, thanking people for their cooperation in wearing masks, and to continue doing so.
Target associates have been assigned to cleaning surfaces of the drink refrigerators and shopping carts. Meanwhile, up the parking ramp at Best Buy, that retail location remains closed to the public, but with curb-side pickup that has been happening since the shut-down. In-home installations, however, have resumed. For example, if you buy a stove from Best Buy, their team can come in and install it for you.
As of this post (5/19/2020), Starbucks inside of Target remained closed.
Overall, the vibe at Target was crowded. If social distancing is important to you, and you don’t want to leave feeling like you need to take a shower, then you’ll want to go at off-times, like in the morning during a weekday. This writer did take a shower after the afternoon trip on Sunday. There were too many people.
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Where To Buy Face Coverings From Mask Makers In Beacon and Beyond
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Due to COVID-19 and state regulations, we are required to wear face masks when social distancing is hard to do. Like, going to the grocery store, post office, gas station, etc. As the reopening starts, you might be coming out of your house more and more. You’re going to need a lot of different face masks! An easy solution is to keep a face covering in your car(s), in your purse, on your key rack, etc. You may have already noticed the new dice hanging above the dashboard in cars - yup - it’s the face mask.
Friendly Facial Cue Alternatives
When you can’t make a smile, here are some facial cue alternatives:
Nod your head & hello.
Make a really big smile so your eyes really crinkle up!
Do a friendly wave.
Talk a little louder than normal so people can hear you.
Don’t be shy!
For all of the years plain white face masks have been worn in China, it is a bit unbelievalbe that they did not use pretty or stylish printed patterned fabric before. During this pandemic crisis, the CDC has issued new guidelines that relax the fabric and construction requirements of a traditional medical mask for a person wearing a face covering in a socially distanced situation out in public. The CDC and the Surgeon General of the United States of America even allow bandanas or T-shirt material folded in a special way and secured with rubber bands around the ears.
Not only can we wear stylish face coverings, we can buy them from an army of makers. Many makers in Beacon have been stitching the face masks since before the mandate went into place. At first they were stitching for front line workers, like nursing home and medical office staff. And some continue to that. Some makers have opened their proverbial shops to sew for the rest of us who want to support them and buy from them. Some are artists who have lost income streams, and others has shifted their fashion production lines to produce masks.
Below is A Little Beacon Blog’s Face Mask Gift Guide. Most are from makers, but if a local boutique is selling them from a larger fashion line, we will include that as well because it helps the shop. Additionally, if we know of a wholesome source of face masks that is out of state, we may include that as well. Please note, these coverings and masks are not medical grade. Use CDC guidelines and use FDA-approved items if possible and these only as a last resort. These products have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These masks are not an N95 Respirator. Use these products at your own risk. I If you cannot afford to buy a face mask, please email Beacon’s Mutual Aid Group mutualaidbeacon@gmail.com who can direct you to a way that free face masks are being handed out for free to those in need.
BEANS CAT CAFE
Instagram >
SHOP MASKS HERE
Beans Cat Café is a cafe in Beacon that offers they baked goods from Frida’s Bakery and Café in Milton, NY, as well as a wide variety of beverages that will only be served in the café area. Included is a cat lounge that includes seating, board games, and up to 8 cats at a time that are all adoptable through Hudson Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary (HVARS) in Poughkeepsie.
BLACKBIRD ATTIC
(845) 418-4840
SHOP MASKS HERE
Blackbird Attic is a Modern & Vintage Consignment Celebrating 10 Years in Business. Although there doors are currently closed, they are operating as an Insta PopUp Shop! See their instagram HERE. They will be accepting seasonal items soon (40% pay out) and are offering curbside pick-up, free local delivery, flat rate shipping for $7.50, and free shipping for purchases above $80.
THE CRAFTY SQUIRRELS
@thecraftysquirrels84
https://www.facebook.com/MiriamRamirezK
ORDER MASKS VIA INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK
Dulce is a local "Crafter in Training" who has always had the passion for sewing. “The Crafty Squirrels” was in the process of becoming a small home business when COVID happened. Sewing has been helpful for Dulce in these dire times and after many friends and family requested face masks, she decided she would like to also help make them available to our community. Dulce likes to put time and effort into each of the items made. Just recently, she added the "Beacon = Strong" mask for sale.
Masks are $10 each with 3 layers of fabric, choice of pocket filter and elastic around the head or ears. The Beacon Strong masks are $12 with a portion of the proceedings to be donated to Fareground Community Kitchen.
BEACON BEE
beaconbeebiz@gmail.com
(845) 337-8319
SHOP MASKS HERE
Beacon Bee has added a handmade, 100% cotton, bee print face mask to their line of honeybee related products. The mask has two layers of fabric (backing fabric comes in dark or light blue), and a versatile loop strap. $10.00 each and 10% goes to Fareground Community Kitchen.
ARIELLE
info@shop-arielle.com
@shop_arielle
SHOP MASKS HERE
ARIELLE is a sustainable apparel company committed to organic, recycled and zero-waste fabrics, local manufacturing, fair-trade operations and plastic-free packaging & production. Non-medical fabric masks meet the CDC suggestion for face coverings. Organic, washable, reusable mask features interior wool filter for particle capture, moisture wicking, and antimicrobial protection.
BETSY WISE
beaconandgrace@gmail.com
@beaconandgrace
SHOP MASKS HERE
Betsy Wise is a local beaconnite making and selling masks out of her home. Typically, Betsy runs Betsy Wise Bridal, a custom tailoring business, but with weddings having to postpone, Betsy has created a temporary new business. Custom made masks for adults, kids and businesses! Her fabrics are featured on her site from Beetle and Fred.
Bendable nose wire conforms to the bridge of your nose for a snug fit
Choose between elastic ear loops or ties
Request an optional pocket to add your own filter. Ideal for healthcare workers!
Choose from a wide variety of colors and patterns suitable for adults and children.
INNER BEAUTY EFFECTS
hello@innerbeautyeffects.com
(845) 391-0938
SHOP MASKS HERE
Inner Beauty Effects is a Hudson Valley based fashion design company, who for a brief period rented a hallway studio in Atlas Studios in Newburgh to conduct podcasts with women entrepreneurs. Originally they made durable bags with an exciting pop of fabric on the inside. Now they are making face masks in pleasant fabrics you’ll feel good about wearing around. Inner Beauty Effects is also selling surface & hand sanitizer! Free shipping on 3 or more masks with code: FREESHIP
DO GOOD FACTOR: For every mask purchased, one mask will be given away to a health care worker. There is also a way to submit if you cannot afford a mask and need one for free. Additionally, there is an option to simply donate materials.
BEACON NATURAL MARKET
348 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508
Beacon348@verizon.net
CONTACT HERE TO PURCHASE MASKS
Beacon Natural Market has been selling face masks from local makers and artists. This is a good opportunity to buy from an artist you did not know about before. Not all masks from the same maker may be in stock. The mask pictured here is made by Brady Quinn, who Beacon Natural says is their “favorite quilter extraordinaire and Habitat for Humanity Newburgh site manager! We’re selling them for $12 each & the money raised will be split between Habitat Newburgh and Beacon Community Kitchen.”
TARA MCPHERSON
info@taramcpherson.com
SHOP MASKS HERE
Tara McPherson is a well known artist who moved to Beacon with her family. People collect her art as stickers, posters, dolls, board games, etc. Now her art is collectable as a face mask. Learn more about the meaning of her paintings here. “Tara exhibits her paintings and serigraphs in fine art galleries all over the world. Named the crown princess of poster art by ELLE Magazine, she has created numerous gig posters for rock bands such as Beck, The Pixies, and Metallica. She has worked with Sony Pictures Animation doing character designs & creative development. Her array of art also includes a variety of toys with Kidrobot, painted covers for DC Vertigo Comics, advertising illustrations for Wyden+Kennedy, Barton F Graf, Publicis, and Bernstein Andrulli. She taught in the Illustration department at Parsons in NYC for 4 years.”
LAMERE CLOTHING & GOODS
Online 24/7
436 Main St.
Beacon, NY 12508
(646) 236-3908
SHOP MASKS HERE
La Mere Clothing and Goods is a clothing boutique base on Main Street in Beacon. Brands carried include Free People and other labels.
20% OFF SITEWIDE CODE: STAYHOME20 + FREE SHIPPING!
AMY C WILSON
SHOP MASKS HERE
Amy lives in Beacon, with a shop in the Old Beacon High School now known as KUBE. “Amy is a celebrated Spiritual Medium, Psychometrist and practitioner of the Magickal Arts. She is a teacher of Witchcraft, gifted healer, psychic reader and long-time Witch. Amy is much sought-after for her Energy Work and has contributed her impressions in missing persons cases.
”Amy has worked in various New York City occult stores for over 25 years, specializing in healing others through Candle Magick. She is presently the proprietress of Other Worldly Waxes, an online and brick-and-mortar magickal apothecary located in Beacon, New York, that features magickal oils and incenses for spell-work, and custom-dressed and ritually charged spell candles for both online customers and her private clientele.”
HONORABLE INK
Honorable Ink is a tattoo shop located on Main Street in Beacon, and is selling masks made out of the sleeves of T-shirts!
SHOP MASKS HERE
ALABAMA CHANIN
462 Lane Drive
Florence, AL 35630
+1 (256) 760-1090
office@alabamachanin.com
SHOP MASKS HERE
Alabama Chanin is “slow design” pioneer in fashion design. She began early in 2000 with the creation of hand-sewn garments made from cotton jersey t-shirts. “We are a leader in elevated craft due to a strong belief in tradition and dedication to locally sewn garments and goods—both hand and machine-sewn. We maintain responsible, ethical, and sustainable practices holding ourselves to the highest standards for quality. We are makers and educators, working to elevate and merge design, craft, and fashion.”
ZAKKA JOY
177 Main Street
Beacon, NY
12508
(845) 632-3383
SHOP MASKS HERE
Zakka Joy is a boutique on Main Street that has lots of fun things in stock. Now, they have face masks.
TELLERHILL OF THE HUDSON VALLEY
Hyde Park, NY
SHOP MASKS HERE
This face mask has a filter pocket and great reviews.
KENNY’S MASKS
kennysmasks@gmail.com
(845) 240-0039
SHOP MASKS HERE
Please your orders through Instagram direct message @kennysmasks, email or text.
LILAC HILL DESIGNS
PO Box 3672, Kingston NY 12402
(845) 853-6068
SHOP MASKS HERE
Lilac Hill Designs is run by a creative who has been a graphic designer for 30 years, but returned to her love for sewing which started at age 10. She is an avid gardener, developed a cross-body gardening bag, and is making masks with a bendable nose and filter.
Beacon Flower Shops Stay Closed But Shoppable Amid NY State Wide Gardening Reopen
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Gardening centers in New York are open on the first reopening day in New York state - May 15, 2020 - but retail floral shops have to keep their doors closed. But that does not mean they aren’t open for business and slinging flowers from inside behind a closed door. According to Governor Cuomo, “Certain low-risk business and recreational activities --including Landscaping, Gardening, Tennis & Drive-In-Movie Theaters -- will reopen statewide on May 15th.”
A garden center is usually outside, but can have a retail component to it inside, like Sunny Gardens on Route 9D in Wappingers. A retail flower shop on Main Street, however, falls under retail, and shops on Main Street have been keeping their doors closed, but doing as much business as they can from the inside via curbside pickups and deliveries.
Since the beginning of the PAUSE order, retail shops have been able to have one person in the store to process orders and get shipping ready. Many shop owners in Beacon have been doing personal deliveries - sometimes same day!
Retail In Dutchess County As Of Reopening Day: Doors Closed, But Owners Serve As Personal Shoppers From Inside Via Phone
The physical shopping experience inside of retail shops remains on New York’s PAUSE plan, and when a region meets its metrics, Retail is in Phase 2. Dutchess County has not yet met its metrics. According to a press release sent by Dutchess County earlier this week, the County Executive Marcus Molinaro at a Town Hall delivered digitally on May 13, 2020, indicated that the reopening would come in time.
“The final two criteria the region must meet – 14 consecutive days of decline in new hospitalizations and 14 consecutive days of decline in deaths – will prove extremely difficult for the region, including Dutchess County, to meet. A single day with an increase over the previous day in either category resets the 14-day clock. The County Executive noted that without some adjustment to those metrics, the Mid-Hudson Region could be forced to wait much longer than originally anticipated to enter ‘Phase 1’ even though there is overall improvement in all categories.”
Shop owners of all kinds - from clothing to floral - have turned into personal shoppers for people. During this spring season, floral shops on Main Street have been busy - as busy as they can be in a shut-down. Says Courtney Sedor of Raven Rose: “Raven Rose is open per the mandate for curbside pickup and delivery Tuesday-Saturday 11am-3pm. Flexible pickup is possible as I live above the store so have accommodated customers for early morning pickups or evenings if they are still working.”
Flora Good Times’s owner Corinne Bryson has been taking questions and special requests via her shop’s Instagram, and even started a new virtual consulting service for people needing to know how to plant indoors or out and need a plant whisperer.
Ordering From Flower Shops On Main Street
Batt’s Florist and Sweets in the middle of Main Street has been delivering almost daily since before Easter, Raven Rose on Beacon’s east end (near the mountain) has been inside her shop making bouquets and arrangements for pickups, Mother’s Day, weddings, elopements, baby showers, and funerals. Flora Good Times has been hosting bouquet making video workshops, slinging a subscription flower service, and making deliveries.
“Can I Come In…?”
People are ready to shop. That much is clear. Target has been open, hardware stores are open, grocery stores, etc. The social aspect and visual experience of shopping is real, and people want it back. Corinne of Flora Good Times told A Little Beacon Blog: “I had a dozen or more people hell-bent on coming into the shop last weekend.”
Last weekend was Mother’s Day, and Flora Good Times had been heavily promoting Mother’s Day bouquets that people could come pick up outside of the store, or could arrange for delivery. Flora Good Times is a very small shop with somewhat of a greenhouse in the back, so the humidity factor inside is high, and social distancing inside would be difficult. “I had to keep the door locked and I put a sandwich board out saying ‘curbside pickup pre-orders only.’ I made people order from their cars, to be honest.”
Back on the east end of Main Street, at Raven Rose, owner Courtney has been inside of the shop during her regular open hours, “partially to keep my sanity,” she told A Little Beacon Blog, but with the door closed. “People can pick up, and I am inside making arrangements for delivery orders like weddings for a single bridal bouquet and boutonniere, and funerals. One woman pre-ordered a bouquet, picked it up, and as she was walking down the street with it in her arms, another woman asked where she got it. So, that woman called the store to ask if she could buy one too, and I said sure, and had it ready in 20 minutes.”
Flora Good Times’ Home page, letting visitors select the online retail side, or the brochure side of the site.
Photo Credit: Flora Good Times
Website Shopping - The Floral Shops Go Online For Pickup Orders
What has been one of the biggest trends in storefronts staying alive or keeping a pulse - is building a website that makes their inside inventory available online. Not all brick and mortars go down the path of offering a website, as it is a daunting task, but the pandemic called for desperate measures. Several of store owners took deep breaths and took the plunge into building a website in order to keep selling to their customers.
Both Flora Good Times and Raven Rose were florists that put energies into getting their inventory online quickly. Flora Good Times launched a second website via Square that just lists the items for sale right now. This includes seeds, planters, indoor plants, bouquets, home goods and plant care like this very necessary metal watering can.
Raven Rose has a large store with an open-air feeling. Her inventory goes well beyond flowers to include home goods, books, interior design items, and gardening items like these totes adorbs pruning sheers.
However you get your flower on this spring, you do have options in Beacon. See A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide to COVID-19 tips and retail discoveries.
Mother's Day Gift Guide - Shop These Beaconites!
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Mothers love a good snuggle with their children (even older ones!), and they love some pampering too. And for people to just read their minds and do the things that need done! If you are buying for your mom this Mother’s Day, go wild. Because she needs the brightness in the day (but stay within budget…she might hand-slap you), and local businesses need the support too.
Below is A Little Beacon Blog’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide, where we feature our advertisers who continue to support us and help make this all possible. Thanks everyone!
LUXE OPTIQUE
181-183 Main St.
Beacon, NY 12508
(845) 838-2020
Shop Now
The easiest thing you could do here, is to buy Mom a Gift Certificate. She may be holding out - denying herself the super special pair of glasses that Luxe Optique specializes in sourcing the world for. That’s right - the world. Because these are not mass produced glasses. These are hand-crafted glasses that we promise you - will get your mom compliments from everyone. That’s right - everyone. She deserves this. Make her go.
PTACEK HOME
146 #2 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 424-6112
Shop Now
PTACEK Home is your local source to exceptionally made furniture. Pieces you are not likely to see in stores. Unless you are in their own store! On Main Street in Beacon. Help them stay in Beacon by taking advantage of their Sale. Just look at those wooden planters!
BEACON BEE
(845) 337-8319
Shop Now
If you’ve heard that local honey is the best, then you’re going to love these all-natural beeswax-based skin and hair products from Beacon Bee. Started by Deb and Matt, who became beekeepers years ago when curiosity and appreciation for bees drove their passion to develop balm in a variety of sizes, scents, and formulations. The beeswax is taken from their own hives. The scents are delicious, and everything can be packaged into wedding favors as well. A perfect gift for a person who loves Beacon and beeswax based beauty.
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BAJA 328
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Malfatti Glass: Free Giveaway
MIZ HATTIE'S - CURBSIDE DELIVERY
