Marty’s aware he’s inclined to be a bit manic – well, at least during peak summer wedding season – and even extremely competitive, but he’s also honest and forthcoming. He looks people straight in the eye. He also knows a tremendous amount about hardware and advanced do-it-yourself construction skills; he flawlessly sheet-rocked his own showroom. And he’s darkly funny. When asked if he keeps any pets, he confides that the family gerbil died a few days ago. Although it will be missed, they won’t be getting another.
Solely by word-of-mouth, Events Unlimited has expanded rapidly, with Bathrick sinking as much money as possible into an ever-widening range of quality inventory. The rented Beacon warehouse, although a bargain, was leaky. Because distribution is his greatest controllable business expense, Bathrick decided to buy one of the warehouses for sale along King’s Highway near the Thruway. He purchased his building and surrounding property in June 2007 for $975,000. Last year’s area upgrade to municipal sewer and water cost another $12,000 but substantially increased the property’s functionality, as his commercial dishwasher uses 300 gallons an hour when operated at full capacity.
He’s had some other headaches – the state took 4 ½ acres he owned for the Tissal Road expansion, and paid him $61,000 for the property, a sum he felt was inadequate. He also had to get the appraised value of his warehouse reduced to reflect market conditions for property taxes. But on the whole, he’s very happy his business is located in Saugerties.
“We’re kind of recession-proof. In 2008 we saw a few folks who held off or scaled back a bit, but it’s all rebounded. The Hudson Valley offers a lower-cost alternative to the Hamptons or New York, and that’s only going to become more attractive,” he said.
Because the Hudson Valley wedding industry is highly seasonal, Marty keeps just four full-time employees on the payroll year-round, but that number jumps to as many as 17 during the summer.
During the winter months, Bathrick likes to travel. Last year he went to Hawaii. This Thanksgiving, he’s taking the combined family to Orlando. He also plans several snowmobiling trips to Canada.
Bathrick said he hopes New York’s legalization of same sex marriage will be a boon for his business, but because weddings are planned at least nine months to a year in advance, it’s too soon to see a difference.
