Officials have announced the 10 stores to be featured in the new season of the Boardwalk Shops at 114 E. Wilson St. in Batavia.
The Boardwalk Shops, a small business incubator program overseen by the Batavia MainStreet group, will open for the season on May 10.
Batavia MainStreet Executive Director Beth Walker said shoppers this season will find a little bit of everything from home and garden products, fashion, jewelry, candy, gifts and more at the shops.
“We’ll have 10 new businesses taking part. Since 2021, we’ve had 10 shops and had one returning in 2022, and in 2023 we had two returning and one pop-up shop, but this year, we had such a great pool of candidates that we decided to go with 10 new vendors altogether,” she said. “Businesses can apply every year and then the jury just takes a look at it and picks the tenants they feel will do the best that season.”
The new stores, Walker said, will offer “a lot of different types of products that we haven’t seen before.”
“They have things for lots of different age groups including a candy store that’s good for kids, some men’s clothing and a vendor that carries vintage clothing and sports team wear,” she said. “Then we have a clothing vendor that will appeal to the teenager to early 20s and 30s as well as a lot more jewelry, some home decor. It’s a really interesting group with some unique offerings that we really don’t have downtown which was the focus of trying to expand past what we have in the downtown district.”
Walker said women’s clothing continues to be a big draw for the shops as well as men’s clothing.
“People have really been loving the vintage vibe, so I feel it’s the best of both worlds as well as sweatshirts and T-shirts,” she said. “We’ve always had people comment that they’d like to have food at the Boardwalk and this year we’ll have a hot dog vendor who will also be selling Italian sausages.”
Grace Schultz of Plainfield is opening Seapeak Style this spring at the Boardwalk Shops.
“I’ve been online for 2½ years but this is my first storefront, so to speak,” she said of her business. “I learned about the Boardwalk program around August of last year and I applied. I was extremely excited when I was selected and am looking forward to the opportunity.”
Schultz spoke about her clothing line for the store and said she offers “customization of all our graphics.”
“I’ve worked on creating a community around our brand as well,” she said. “I make all the graphics myself and print them all. My line covers a lot of beach graphics and I focus on a lot of positivity and kind of what is trending now like Taylor Swift. I also carry boutique items with a beachy, summer vibe and a lot of color. I look forward to working with the other vendors to help support Batavia.”
To date, there have been 35 businesses go through the incubator program and a total of 19 are now in permanent locations, a number that Walker said far exceeded MainStreet staff’s expectations about the program.
“We were hoping for one or two a year so to have this kind of reception, it’s really helped to transform the downtown district,” she said.
The new stores this year include Bewitching Brews, selling organic teas, herbs and other items; Big Bear Sunglasses, with vintage square sunglasses; Home and Garden Provisions with home items, garden decor and gifts; Home Run Hot Dogs and Lemonade, selling all-beef hot dogs, sausages and freshly-squeezed lemonade; and Jodi Mac Sweets and Treats, offering freeze-dried candy, chocolate-covered treats, cotton candy, hot cocoa and more.
Also, Morbid Mementos, selling art, jewelry and more; NeighborsgridShop, a store featuring new and vintage men’s and women’s clothing; Seapeak Style, with items inspired by the beach; Since Seventy Five Supply Co., offering a variety of items that “look to the past for inspiration while maintaining a forward-thinking momentum,” officials said; and Scout and Gem, selling jewelry and home decor.
The Boardwalk Shops will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays from May 10 to Dec. 17. For more information, go to Batavia MainStreet’s website at www.downtownbatavia.com/
