Not for everyone
Wendy Coffey of W Couture on Main St. is one retailer who says she’s been disappointed by the lack of HITS-related business in her shop. “I’ve been open about three and a half months, now, and I did advertise in their program, but to be honest, I really haven’t had any HITS customers come in here and spend money. I don’t know if they don’t know I’m here, or what.” She says that when she opened, everyone told her, “oh, wait until HITS comes,” so she even purchased more merchandise in order to be ready for the anticipated rush of business, but it didn’t work out that way, she says.
Fashionable clientele
On the other hand, Daisy Bolle of the DIG boutique on Partition St. says that the clientele coming to her from HITS have made a big impact on the business she owns with husband Van. Daisy worked as a stylist in Los Angeles for years before coming back to the Saugerties/Woodstock area, and says that the girls that ride at the HITS shows appreciate the clothes she carries and that she’s up on the current trends. “These girls are very fashionable,” she says, “and they know what’s in.”
The business from HITS is so important to Bolle that she tailors her business to it, from what she stocks to the hours she stays open. “If they ask for a certain line, I get it,” she says. “I keep my ear to the ground on what they’re wearing, so it’s a win-win situation for all of us.” She says she stocks unique things that they won’t find everywhere else, and she’s always willing to accommodate their requests to keep her shop open late, often extending the 9 p.m. closing time to 10 or 11. One memorable night, they stayed open until 12:30 a.m. “It’s not easy money,” she says, “the hours are exhausting, but it’s worth it.”
Participating in hunter/jumper horse shows is an expensive activity, and the people who do so are not exactly financially challenged. Along with the level of wealth that the HITS participants possess can come a reputation for being demanding, but Bolle says that she has not found that to be the case in her shop. “I have to say that they’ve been incredibly sweet, just really nice people with us. It’s been a pleasure. We’ve gotten to know the families over the years, we’ve watched their girls grow, and the little sisters are now starting to fit into the clothes,” she says.
“The girls are such incredible athletes, and work so hard at what they do, and then they like to reward themselves – and why not? They have a lot of fun with it.”
The moms come in during the day, Bolle says, and then they bring their daughters back at night. “My store caters to both. They look forward to coming to our store and it’s part of the Saugerties experience for them.” DIG has recently opened up an online store, too, so the HITS girls that know the shop from the shows here now can go home and shop online as well, and spread the word to their friends where they live.
“You can see how the town has changed since they’ve been here,” says Bolle, “it’s incredible. Their influence is obvious, and even if it’s a bit crowded in the restaurants for some people when they’re here, we get to enjoy this beautiful town all year round. Without HITS, we wouldn’t have so many great restaurants to choose from and stores to shop in. We’d be like any other town, living on the edge, like it was before they got here. We really appreciate them.”
Repeat business
The people coming to HITS need support services, as well, including a place to take their dry cleaning. Mike Flanigan of Flanigan’s Cleaners on Main Street says that prior to HITS coming to Saugerties, the months of July and August were the two weakest months of the year for his business. Now January and February are the two slowest months, he says, and it’s HITS that has made the difference. “Our numbers have picked up very nicely since they’ve been in Saugerties,” he says. “I like having them around and I’m happy they’re here.”
Flanigan says that they have a lot of returning HITS customers from year to year, and he feels that they’ve been coming in long enough now that there’s a comfort level for them, as there would be with the dry cleaner they go to in their home town. “They know what they’re getting here,” he says.
The riders bring in their riding attire; blouses for the women, he says, along with extra collars, and dress shirts for the men, and the tailored jackets that both wear. The one thing they see less of these days, says Flanigan, are the riding breeches, because the dry-clean-only pants that the riders wore when they first came to town have been replaced by machine washable versions. They do offer wash and fold service, though, so the riders can still get those pants done there if they want to.
And, he adds, in addition to the business from the family members of the riders and other people associated with the events, most of the HITS office staff are year-round Saugerties residents. “We’re happy HITS is here, and we think it’s a good thing for everybody.”
Put Saugerties on the map
Judith Spektor and Barry Benepe are longtime residents of Saugerties, and have been involved with producing the Saugerties Farmers Market since 2002. Spektor says that the farmers market does not feel much influence from HITS being in town, because it takes place on Saturdays during hours that the riders and their families and support staff are occupied at the show grounds.
“What they do tends to be all-consuming,” she says, “and while family members may occasionally break away to do something else, for the most part they’re there to support the rider. The people who go to HITS are passionately involved in what they’re doing, as they should be, so during the day, they’re pretty much at the site. We notice them more in the restaurants in the evening.”
She agrees with husband Barry that the biggest impact HITS has on Saugerties is in the raising of the profile of Saugerties as being a place to visit. “The same people riding in Saugerties are probably riding in the shows in California, too,” says Benepe. “It certainly makes them know Saugerties as a place, and the word gets out. HITS has locations in other states, and so it makes Saugerties part of this larger national scene.”
He says he appreciates the fact that HITS is a quiet business to have in Saugerties. (Compared, say, to a place like Long Beach, California that plays host to an economically rewarding but extremely loud and rowdy Grand Prix race each spring.)
“It keeps the land open and green,” he continues, “not being built on. I’m surprised that HITS doesn’t attract more local people. We enjoy it when we go there occasionally. It’s an entirely different environment there, like something out of a Degas painting.”
