Main Street welcomes 3 new businesses

Manor continues to attract entrepreneurs

By Ethan Sprouse | Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – Manor Ink recently visited three shops opening in town and talked with their owners about their businesses. Two of these shops are brand new venues, while one is a new location opening.

Emmanuelle Skin Care & Wellness is a store focusing on all natural wellness products coming from trusted source locations all over the world, like Bulgaria and France. Owner Emmanuelle Barry spent time in Provence, France, and grew up with lavender around the house. Her time there influenced her decision to open up the shop today.

“I believe it’s important for people to be able to choose, to touch, to smell, to experiment, to ask questions. People don’t always think that skin is important,” Barry said. “It’s actually our largest organ. And whatever goes into your skin goes right into your bloodstream. I hope that the store is going to help people approach their health in different ways.”

Barry, who is also a clinical herbalist, expects to provide health and wellness classes in the future.

“This store has a place in society really right now and it’s important for people to get more educated,” the Callicoon resident said. “I’m trying to see how I can combine skincare and education and herbal tea and to have a package for people. My goal is to educate people not to be afraid of using herbal medicine.”

Art and design, too

Further down Main Street, Corners, an art and design store, also just opened up its doors – a long-held dream for owner David McGillivray.

“I have been thinking for years about doing something like this in town,” McGillivray said. “I’ve always known it would be some kind of design store in some form. That’s what I was very, very loosely thinking about for years.”

McGillivray, a designer by trade, is well versed in designing experiences and has taken extra care to not just design the store to accommodate the physical space, but to keep all elements that could influence a customer’s experience in mind.

”My specific vision of the shop is it being a celebration of design. How do we bring that to life? Experientially, it’s small things – there’s always music playing, there’s always incense burning,” McGillivray said. “It should always feel like an experience when you come into the store. All those little things are important to me. I just want it to just feel easy and friendly. And there’s a little bit of corner store in there, something that feels local.”

When asked about his hopes for the store, McGillivray said, “I think I want it to grow into something more than just a retail store, but to a brand that can do a lot more than exist in one physical space.”

A place to create

McGillivray isn’t the only business owner creating space for creativity and art. Long Weekend owner Ninze Chen-Benchev has opened up another spot on Main Street – this time, for artists and creators. Still unnamed, the space at 90 Main Street, next to Viv’s Cut and Creations, is a creative co-working studio space for anyone who needs extra room for their craft and art making.

“It’s for artists, creators. And hopefully, if I can find some sort of wellness professional, like a massage therapist, it could be this hybrid art-healing and mind-healing space,” Chen-Benchev said. “So it can function like a creative incubator and a workshop for people to play around with ideas.”

For Chen-Benchev, it ultimately comes down to creating space for the creative process within a community.

“It’s so nice to have people around you when you’re making things, so you’re not alone,” Chen-Benchev said. “I just want people to know that there is a safe space for people to explore creative ideas and for people to come in and feel free to create things and make things. I hope people will come in and leave with a sense of peace. And anything else that happens in there, you know, could be wild.”