Inspired by the allure of more eyes, more traffic, and hopefully more business, a pair of local businesswomen have decided to pick up shop and move from Peconic to Southold.
Jeri Woodhouse, owner of A Taste of the North Fork, and Lori Guyer, owner of the White Flower Farmhouse, are taking their talents to Southold after doing business next door to one another on Peconic Lane for about the past three years.
"Peconic Lane is a wonderful, historic street," said Woodhouse, whose company specializes in homegrown food products such as pestos, jams, jellies, mustards and more. "But that was more out of the way - it was more of a destination for people. We wouldn't get too many people just stopping in ... So this allows us to expand our retail opportunities."
Guyer's White Flower Farmhouse restores and refurbishes furniture, farm tables and more, as well as offers similar vintage and antique products. The move east will allow the Southold resident to quadruple her space.
"I think it was time for me to grow," said Guyer, who has been running White Flower Farmhouse for a decade. "Jeri and I have always worked well together. We try to help each other out business-wise to do well."
In Southold, the pair will be two doors down from one another. And as for their former spaces in Peconic: those won't be vacant, already having commitments made to fill the spaces. Guyer – who held a soft opening on Friday at her Southold location, at 53995 Main Rd. – said a former customer of hers will be taking over her old space.
Woodhouse said she hopes to be open before the end of October, though she is running for Town Trustee, and part of her admits it could be tough opening before Election Day.
Whenever she opens, one local real estate agent said the move will undoubtedly get both businesses more exposure.
"They're going to get a ton of foot traffic," said Sheri Winter Clarry, senior Vice President at the Corcoran Group, a real estate firm. "Southold is like out of a Norman Rockwell painting to me. It's utterly charming and chill."
