Indie Stores Forever: The Velvet Maple
Our Indie Stores Forever series continues with a spotlight on Alessandra Maria Iavarone of the delightful interior design and lifestyle shoppe The Velvet Maple in Narrowsburg, NY. Similar to many women we know, we truly value the experience of shopping in-person. The ease of online shopping cannot eclipse the feeling of gliding your hands through soft textures and seeing the thoughtful presentation of beautiful things. Also—we literally dread going to the post office. Sry, USPS.
To highlight this amazing shoppe and learn more about the new consumer shopping experience, we asked Alessandra a few questions about how her business has pivoted since the pandemic and what she’s gone through to set up a new way of working. If you’re ever in upstate NY, The Velvet Maple is a GEM and features an array handmade and internationally-sourced items at pretty fair prices.
The Velvet Maple is a lovely lifestyle shop in the Catskills. Amidst the pandemic, how have you had to pivot?
My greatest challenge has been keeping the store stocked with beautiful exclusive quality goods in home and fashion accessories. My collection is largely internationally curated and traveling while sourcing is a big part of the brand’s lifestyle. Sadly during Covid I received many “going out of business” emails and problems with my shipments being stuck at custom borders. C’est la vie! To continue to remain exciting to my loyal clientele and the new people walking through the door every weekend in our Catskills community, I have spent more time digging deep into my design industry contacts asking to be introduced to their new start up friend designers before those designs even hit the market. I’ve also been sourcing Instagram and collaborating with old friends from the music and film industry to create handmade products. Time at home during quarantine and now Covid restrictions has allowed me space to actually have those one-on-one phone calls to reconnect with the makers.
Were you able to secure any federal funding from the first stimulus bill? If so, what was that process like?
I did receive a very small SBA relief loan that I will start paying back next year. The process was fairly simple for my corporation. It came on a grim morning in May when I was really starting to worry about my families future. I checked my bank account to pay some bills and it arrived, which was great for morale. There are many fine print regulations as to how I can spend it, though. Right now, I am focusing on building a plan to put the money back into the integrity and longevity of The Velvet Maple’s “new normal” that will be good as a whole for the communities safety and the state of New York’s economy.
Since opening back up, have you seen some new faces popping by the store more frequently? We'd like to think that a mixture of cabin fever + the desire to support the local community would result in more foot traffic.
For me the greatest foot traffic increase has generated from our weekender homeowner community actually moving upstate full-time. Many of my clients have always considered their weekend home investment their real home while they continued to just rent in the city for work purposes. Remote working has provided an opportunity for them to finally join the upstate lifestyle full-time. Clients that I was only seeing twice every summer I now see in the shoppe weekly.
Are people scared to try on clothes when they come in the store? Or is there a feeling that people are getting used to this new way of life and are less fearful?
I have a very large dressing room and I clean it regularly, so I like to think that people would feel comfortable to try on clothes in the store—however, I would say it’s been 50/50 as to who is in the mood vs who is being extra cautious. I get it, and like all other business owners I’ve come up with a few clever ways to accommodate any person who is still weary of getting undressed in the shoppe. I am still providing private appointment shopping during the weekdays and I’ve added a personal shopping from home component. A shopper can now FaceTime me in the shoppe and we pick a bunch of items to send to them; then they pick what they want at home and return what they don’t want. It keeps me productive during long virtual home schooling days with my son and there is no pressure to buy. I have seen the power of retail therapy and self-care first hand during these one-on-one sessions. I would say my customer service mantra is: Remain cautious always, but never fearful.
You are also an interior designer. Have you gained new clients as a result of people from NYC/BK making the exodus to the Catskills?
Nesting has been a huge creative component and therapeutic outlet for many during quarantine. It just seemed like the perfect time to get to those big projects you always wanted to do but couldn’t find a time to commit to. Currently, I’m renovating a new kitchen in the city and designing a brand new 27- room hotel coming to the area soon. A bunch of friends have moved up here and I will be helping them with color palette paint choices, landscaping, lighting and furnishings—so yes I’m raising a glass to the exodus to the Catskills! Cheers.