Other sprucings up have been evident.
We checked in with Mark Hedrick of Woodstock Emporium, who moved last summer to the space Chez Grandmere moved to from where Lily’s is now…after Hurricane Sandy blew his roof off in the space Sparkle has since expanded into on Mill Hill Road out front of Maria’s Bazar.
“We had six days to paint and move in back in June so I’m finally taking the time to make the space my own,” Hedrick said during one of his rare days off while installing and painting new shelves. “When I got a call from Misty saying she was giving her space up I went to the landlord the next morning and worked out a lease within 20 minutes. It’s been absolutely wonderful ever since…but also very busy. Thank heavens for this slow time of year.”
Hedrick added that when he took over his space, he also took on Chez Grandmere’s chocolate business.
Opening party
Back at YumYum, Moeys recounted how he came to the area in October of 2004 after marrying Nina Paturel, whose family is legendary for the various Woodstock eateries they’ve run over the years. On June 6, 2005 he opened his first local restaurant, Café With Love Bites on Partition Street in Saugerties (now called Love Bites), serving foods he’s made a specialty at restaurants back in his native Belgium, and adopted city of Amsterdam. On June 6, 2006, Moeys then opened Oriole 9 in the center of Woodstock, previously home to a number of popular restaurants.
Yum Yum, a partnership between Nina Moeys-Paturel, Pierre-Luc Moeys and chef Erica A. Mahlkuch, began in 2010, with a very popular outdoor set of seats on Rock City Road boasting views of Overlook Mountain…and the busy center of Woodstock itself. The food trucks began two summers ago and helped center a series of Food Truck festivals on the site of FiberFlame Stduio on Route 212, until Saugerties zoning laws forced it all into the village of Saugerties itself.
“We’ll have some sort of opening event — a little party — the week we open,” Moeys added. “We’re hearing it’s getting hard for people with retail stores here,” he said. “As for us expanding further, of course we want more…but our revenue’s so low because our prices are low, we can only do right choices very carefully.”
Uptown, downtown
The Bacons and Gersons, meanwhile, talked some about the growing numbers of banks and real estate offices in town…but also Woodstock’s need for fresh perspectives and new shopkeeps…like the couple taking over Sweetheart, who are from Hudson, now the retail and arts power house in the Hudson Valley. At least for the moment.
“We used to be our own thing here in Woodstock and many people here still think that way,” B. Gerson said. “But the truth is that everyone’s more competitive now, town to town throughout the region.”
According to Hedrick, who was surprised to see his business double since moving into the hamlet’s center a half year ago, says that the competitiveness also exists between the middle of town and its nearby western and eastern and Rock City shopping areas. That, he believes, is why everyone wants a place near the Village Green, and scramble for the opportunity whenever a space opens up.
“Down Mill Hill Road was probably like it is out Tinker Street or down Rock City or Tannery Brook roads — by the time people get to you after a full day shopping they’ve spent their money for the day and the kids are cranky,” he said. “Here, I often see the same people stop in three or four times in a day, coming back for more chocolate or finally deciding to buy a t-shirt or something. It’s a different business!”
As for making changes in a business, he said he’s found a split in his customer base, albeit not a bad one.
“Some say everything here changes too much already,” he said. “But others, they like the fact that every time they come back to town it’s a little different. In the end, you have to figure out who it is you want to appeal to…”
Which is why Woodstock stays the same, year after year, while always changing somewhat, too.
