Merchants: Goshen is on the rebound

By Geri Corey
GOSHEN — The common word heard these days around the Village of Goshen “resilience" — to spring back, to rebound, to return to original form after being bent.

Goshen's downtown business district was given a significant “bent" by several major closings, including that of the Orange County Government Center, the Healey Chevrolet-Buick dealership on Greenwich Avenue, and Arden Hill Hospital on Harriman Drive.

“No doubt these closings have taken a toll on the downtown merchants,” said Lynn Cione, Executive Director of the Goshen Chamber of Commerce. "But they are a professional, capable, sophisticated group of merchants and restaurant owners. This business community is very resilient."

The county building has been closed for nearly two years, which has had the biggest impact on local business. The loss of foot traffic downtown was felt first by eating establishments in the village, said Ray Quattrini, the Chamber of Commerce president and a local business owner. He said that with the Department of Motor Vehicles relocated in Middletown and Newburgh, and researchers now going to Valley View nursing home to look at records, people aren’t stopping for a bite to eat or to shop in the village. Even lawyers who had come to do business in the courts are going elsewhere.

But the resilience factor is helping Goshen spring back.

Ted Lewis, the village building inspector, said business has picked up a lot for him. There’s more activity with single family homes being built and sold. And with regard to commercial properties, renovations, alterations, and additions are happening.

“That’s good sign,” he said.
For instance, in the industrial park, Konica-Minolta is doing serious renovations, Blaser Swisslube is prepping for a large renovation/alteration project, and RI Suresky and Sons car dealership is planning a building for Hyundai car sales. Also on the agenda is a cancer center for children proposed for a 55-acre lot off Route 17A.

“Goshen is amenable to them,” said Lewis. “They’ve received preliminary approval to move through the planning process.”

The downtown business district, too, is seeing quite a bit of action. Franz Brendle, owner of Nina’s Restaurant in Middletown, is getting ready to open a new restaurant in the location of the vacated Moose’s Retro Café, on the corner of Market and Main Streets.

Quattrini has a new business currently preparing the interior at his building at Grand Street Crossing to fit its needs. The Hudson Heritage Federal Credit Union will open its doors for business in September.

Confidence in the future
Some businesses might relocate to different areas. But others, confident in the local economy, are choosing to stay in the village. Rose Shevchuk recently moved her Goshen Gourmet Bakery and Delicatessen from its locale at 14 West Main Street to 134 West Main. Delancey’s, once situated at the CVS Plaza on Clowe’s Avenue, has moved to its new location on Park Place, where it is expanding its bar and dining space and adding 18 jobs.

Linda Mabie, owner of Linda’s Office Supplies, said, “Rental space in Goshen is limited. Within a few weeks, two empty stores were rented.”

Cione corroborated this. “We don’t have a lot of turnover," she said. "People come here all the time for commercial space, and in Goshen, it’s unusual to have store space.”

For example, a new bakery and natural juice bar called Sweet Fillings Café will soon occupy the vacated space at 14 West Main Street. Sarah Harrington, owner of Howell’s Deli Café for the last nine years, is confident that Goshen will survive.

“I have faith in the local government and the local Chamber of Commerce," she said. "They are young, creative people and will meet the challenge because Goshen‘s future depends on it.”

Sweet Fillings Café serves breakfast and lunch.

“I’m keeping the fare light and fresh, offering healthy choices,” Harrington said. “Eat a fresh healthy lunch, than take a cookie for the ride home!”

Her menu will carry gluten-free and vegan options.

Jennifer Brody, whose Brody’s Best Café and Juice Bar has been on West Main for three years, is handling the juice bar part of Sweet Fillings Café.

“This is an amazing opportunity and I’m happy to get back to doing what I love to do," said Brody, a mother of two young children. "I love creating fresh juice for everyone, and especially for children, rather than serving processed juice with all that sugar."

As a bonus, Brody’s endeavor supports local farmers.

“I buy apples from Soon’s, carrots, cukes, beets, spinach — anything farmers have I pretty much can use,” she said.

Mabie said retail is a hard business.

"It’s challenging and ever-changing,” she said. “The question I ask myself, ‘What are people’s needs?’”

Mabie, who has been in business in Goshen for 27 years, has consistently answered that question correctly. Her diversity and service has kept her going. Along with having a full-service copy center and stock of office supplies, she also carries distinctive gift items, children’s novelties, jewelry, personal items like handbags and socks, and many more items, both necessary and fun.

Mabie realizes that her longevity is the result of community support.

“I’m grateful for community support," she said. "I have a great customer base. People who shop locally know we have items in Goshen, and they don’t have to run to the mall.”

Looking at new ways of doing business

Parking in the village shouldn’t be a problem anymore. Mabie made the point that with municipal parking lots throughout the business district, it’s usually just a short walk to any of the shops. At the mall, people walk for miles from the parking lot to the mall, and then once inside, do a lot of walking going from one store to another.

Quattrini said business people are "making adjustments in their business plans to coincide with the current economic climate." He listed ways that businesses are increasing their profits — looking for customers outside the village, doing online sales, doing additional advertising, and adding different products to their line.

“Diversify to turn a profit," he said, "like Linda’s and the Goshen Hardware that have added some new products to their lines."

Quattrini is aware that Goshen isn’t as vibrant as it was five years ago. The downturn affected a lot of people. But he's looking forward to the time when he can rebound to his former life work: speculation.

“The economy in this area isn’t conducive to what I normally do, but as it turns around and I see an increase in community traffic, within two years I’ll be starting a new project," he said. "I have several on hold for the moment.” Quattrini has restored or reconstructed or built between 25 and 30 buildings in Goshen.

The Goshen movie theater may have been torn down to make way for drive-thru banking, but entertainment has returned to Goshen. Incorporated in 2012, the Cornerstone Arts Alliance at 223 Main Street offering popular live dramas, Shakespeare in the Park, teen drama workshops, musical folk concerts, a yearly jazz festival, and now an art gallery, the First Floor Art Gallery, that held its grand opening May 31.

“Our goal is to pull the layers back on each play, engage the audience, and bring viewers on a journey with the actors," said Cornerstone artistic director Ken Tschan. "That’s what I’m after. We have extraordinary talent here.”

Cornerstone has been well received by local and out-of-town patrons, having consistently near sell-out performances.

Village government pitches in
The village government is doing its part to bolster the downtown economy. For starters, it has suspended meter parking on a trial basis to see if it encourages more locals to stop and shop.

Mayor Kyle Roddey and the board of trustees are also backing a fall festival in partnership with the school district, the Goshen Chamber of Commerce and the Joint Recreation Commission. But the single biggest project is to update signage laws to make stores more identifiable.

“One of the biggest things we're doing now is to redesign our signage laws to be more business-friendly,” said Trustee Peter Smith, who owns Elsie’s Luncheonette. “We want it made known that the Village of Goshen is open for business, friendly, and can accommodate present businesses and those wanting to open here.”

Having grown up in Goshen, Smith remembers a time when everything people needed could be bought in the village. He recalls looking down North Church Street and up West Main Street and seeing hanging store signs, some lighted, that symbolized “Goshen is open for business.”

And indeed there were many hanging and illuminated signs dating back to before 1920, when an A.E. Potter’s Novelty Store sign hung prominently on West Main Street. After that there were large signs, like Markovits Brothers; hanging signs, like Scott’s Pharmacy; and illuminated signs, like Goshen Cleaners Dyers, Strong’s Pharmacy, and even a well-known red Coca Cola sign. Awnings covered the sidewalks with store names imprinted on them, like Goshen Tea Store.

In fact, the photo caption in Ed Connor’s book "Goshen Revisited" mentions the large neon Dickerson and Meany sign on top of a building in Harriman Square that “was a landmark for many years.” He also mentions “a thriving West Main Street business district” in the late 1930s, noting the hanging signs of Robinson’s Stationary and other stores. A public hearing on the signage law is scheduled for Monday, July 8, at 7:30 p.m.

“The people of Goshen are adjusting,” said Quattrini, even though it will still be awhile before the government center re-opens. “Until then, we’re making adjustments on our own.”

“The village is resilient, and the big focus is to buy local," Smith said. "We’re encouraging village residents to patronize local businesses so we keep them and make it viable for others to open."

Cione added, “The merchants are our neighbors. They pay taxes and support the community — the community needs to support them.”

“No place is perfect,” said Smith. "But there’s no other place I want to live in — there’s no place like the Village of Goshen.”