Bridget and Eric Elkin always imagined starting a business for their daughters once they were old enough to help run it. Greenport’s vacant storefronts accelerated that family plan by several years.
The Goose (211 E. Front St., Greenport), a children’s clothing and gift shop, opened over the July 4 weekend. The Elkins’ daughters, Remy and Elliot, are just 7 and 5, respectively.
The couple’s original plan was to launch a business when the girls were 11 or 12, giving them real-world experience and eventually the choice of growing or selling it when they turned 18.
The Goose opened July 4 weekend on E. Front Street in Greenport. (Photo Credit: Madison Fender)
“The idea was to do something for the girls, to teach them financial literacy, resilience through problem solving, and expose them to entrepreneurship,” Elkin told The Suffolk Times. “The timeline was moved up because of the situation in Greenport and realizing that ‘oops, we have a vacant storefront sitting there.’”
The Elkins, who work together in East End real estate, had been using the East Main Street space as an informal office. The couple also works out of a Compass office in Southold but used the village location to escape the house when their daughters were younger.
During the summer, however, the office often sat empty while the Elkins were out showing homes.
“It just hit me,” Elkin says. “We’re part of the problem.”
Several storefronts remain empty even as summer crowds fill the village. Di Angela Leather Goods and Accessories, Kharmah, Tea and Tchotchkes and The Market have closed since last year, while the former Arcade Department Store has been vacant since 2017. The Greenport Business Improvement District has made filling those spaces a priority, hiring a commercial real estate firm this spring to help recruit tenants, as The Suffolk Times previously reported.
She did not want to give up the storefront, so she began contacting shops in Connecticut and on the South Fork in January in search of a business interested in opening a pop-up there. By March, she had found no takers.
Elkin then applied for a wholesale license and began ordering merchandise in April, with her daughters helping select what the store would carry.
“Remy took some Zoom calls with me with brands this winter, picking out things,” Elkin says. “Elliot, the same thing. She chose colors when it came down to choosing something, or even layout.”
With the help of friends Matt and Kirsten Michels, the 225-square-foot office was transformed into a children’s store in two weeks. Greenport residents Christina Zisa and Emma Hafer also helped with the merchandise displays.
Photo Credit: Madison Fender
The store sells mostly children’s clothing, but also offers arts and crafts, costumes, toys that encourage imaginative play, educational toys and gifts for infants. The clothing features some Greenport-centric designs, such as a T-shirt with a village fire truck on the front.
“There are very few places in Greenport that sell children’s goods,” Elkin says. “I saw that as an opportunity and something to fill. I wanted to find a business where I could be honest about the realities that it’s really hard to survive if you’re not catering to both the visitor and the year-round resident, and children’s clothing seems to thread that needle.”
The Goose takes its name from a family nickname. Elkin’s mother called her “Goose” while she was growing up, and Christina Zisa and her husband use the same nickname for their daughter.
The Elkins plan to keep the store open after the summer season ends, stocking Halloween costumes and other holiday gifts. Its current hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.
With the couple busy working in real estate, 2024 Southold High School graduate Nyla Olsen and Elkin’s aunt, Katie McLaughlin, manage the store.
Remy and Elliot will still have the option of taking over the business when they turn 18, but their mother said they will not be obligated to do so. Whatever path they choose, Elkin says she enjoys dreaming up new ventures with them. Her “happy place is the back of a napkin,” where a new idea can begin.
“It’s Greenport or nowhere for us,” she says. “The business community has been so supportive. It’s been great.”
