“Penny Auntie,” on Lower King Street, reopens as “Auntie Penny”

Linda DeMase and Eve Spence with their giant hand-made candy
January 22, 2010
by Susie Pender

“I wouldn’t say we took over the store Penny Auntie, I would say we took over the spirit of Penny Auntie,” suggested an enthusiastic Eve Spence, now a co-owner with Linda DeMase of the new Auntie Penny in the old Penny Auntie space on Lower King Street.

“This kind of store – before it was Penny Auntie it was a five and dime – has had a place in this community for 30 years,” explained Spence. “I love what it is and I don’t want to change it. It’s a place to buy birthday gifts, to do party favors and to find the latest trends. And a place for the middle school kids to shop on Friday afternoons. That’s such a rite of passage, and such an unusual opportunity these days, to have a place to shop safely without parental supervision.”

What happened to Penny Auntie?

“The bridge construction and the downturn in the economy without a doubt had an impact on all the stores in Chappaqua,” Spence commented. “I couldn’t say it was any one thing that made Penny Auntie fail; it was a perfect storm of circumstances.”

“But I’ve been with the store during rough times, and I know it can turn around,” Spence stated. Both Spence and DeMase worked at Penny Auntie for 10 years. “We always discussed how we might do things differently. We will bring our own viewpoint to the store.”

“When the former owner’s negotiations with a potential purchaser fell through,” Spence explained, “we approached the landlords, Mike and Rich DeNardo, about the space. They were anxious to keep the store as it was. We did not buy the name, and there was some legal question as to whether we even could.”

Competing with Target, Toys R Us and the Internet

“Service is what you don’t get a Target or Toys R Us or on the Internet,” Spence and DeMase emphasized. “A parent can call us and say, ‘I need a gift for a ten-year-old girl for my daughter to take to a party. Can you pick something out in the 25 dollar range, wrap it up and I’ll pick it up on my way home?’ You can’t do that with Target.”

“We will continue to have our ‘Gazebo’ section, the table in front with inexpensive stuff displayed there, “ Spence confirmed.  “While a parent is shopping at Village Market, he or she can send their child over here with a few dollars to pick out something from that table.”

Auntie Penny is open every day but Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. But Spence and DeMase are holding off on a Grand Opening until the first week of February.  During December, when they signed the lease for the store, toy manufacturers and distributors were so busy with the holidays that it was virtually impossible to purchase inventory for the store, they explained. They are waiting for shipments of new merchandise to come in. They want to have a lot of choice for their customers before their official opening.

“We want our customers to know that we have heard their suggestions for the store and we want to make sure we give them what they want,” Spence stressed.