East Hampton Retail Had Booming Summer

It was a booming summer for East Hampton Village retail stores. According to shopkeepers and gallery owners, sales were strong even as soaring temperatures beckoned people to the beach. 

“For us, the weather being hot like this is really good,” said Lorna Dreher, the owner of Bonne Nuit, a lingerie store, and Eres, a swimwear boutique. “We were busier than other summers, but we had a harder time staffing in August so that made it a little more hectic than normal.”

Colleen Moeller, who launched the children’s store Petit Blue over Memorial Day weekend, said that she had “over-exceeded expectations” for her first summer. “Our bookkeeper was here yesterday, and said these are great numbers,” said Ms. Moeller. The big sellers, she said, included the Wobbel board, which tests kids’ balancing abilities, and the Wonder Walker, which helps toddlers navigate their first steps. 

At BookHampton, “The President Is Missing,” by Bill Clinton and James Patterson was the season’s most popular novel, said Carolyn Brody, the owner. At her store, “business started out strong, had a dip in late June to early July, but then it kept going really strong,” she said.

Even in the fine arts sector, business was robust. “This was probably the best summer I’ve had in five years,” said Terry Wallace, the owner of the Wallace Gallery. “There’s a lot more money around, the stock market’s doing good, and I’m hoping that, in the fall, the real estate market picks up,” he said. Kaytlin Nodine, an assistant at Gallery Valentine, which opened in a new space on Newtown Lane this summer, said that sales were strong there as well. 

Valerie Smith, the owner of the Monogram Shop, said that her store had “good steady summer business. No surprises in my world, and most I’ve talked to say the same.”