Spotlight: Shop Local This Holiday Season

Welcome to Broadway Stages’ Spotlight, where we feature local shops, restaurants, organizations, individuals, and venues. During the month of December, we encourage you to support local establishments - shop, dine, and be entertained or pampered locally. This week, we focus on a few local businesses featured this year in our spotlight series. 

Broadway Stages is deeply committed to our neighbors. And a big part of their well-being is a robust local economy. As previously mentioned, the money you spend at a locally-owned business is an investment in your neighborhood. So, we thought we would look back on a few of the businesses we featured this year for you to consider as you make your holiday gift list.

If your shopping efforts take you to Queens, check out St. Seneca in Ridgewood. This store features locally made goods, including ceramics, jewelry, apothecary items, pillows, and toys, stressing quality and craftsmanship over quantity. It is a priority for store owner Yuka Anziano to support local artists. So, she works primarily with small artisans and designers from the area. She also stocks pet items that give back to rescue groups. Saint Seneca’s “pet-friendly” products were even featured in Home & Garden magazine. St. Seneca is open Tuesday through Friday, 12 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For your holiday sweet tooth, visit Mark’s Bake Shoppe in Richmondtown on Staten Island. This bakery has been recognized by the Staten Island Advance, SILive.com, the College of Staten Island, the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, and featured in our Spotlight series. Mark has even been featured on the Netflix program “Sugar Rush”!  But the true story of Mark’s Bake Shoppe is told in their cakes, cookies, doughnuts, cupcakes, and more. If you are like Broadway Stages, you enjoy a feast with your eyes. So, we suggest you follow the Shoppe on Instagram and YouTube. While you are at it, include Facebook for special deals and offers! When your have built up your appetite, give the Shoppe a call at (718) 668-2600, Order Online, or stop in Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

If ordering online, consider the Brooklyn-born vegan apothecary Meow Meow Tweet. Co-founders Jeff Kurosaki (they/them) and Tara Pelletier (she/they) met in art school and work together as a collaborative artist team. Their creation, Meow Meow Tweet, is a small-batch skincare company that creates vegan products with pure, all-natural, and organic ingredients.  Meow Meow Tweet is committed to creating pure, all-natural, plant and mineral-based formulas, ranging from soap, natural insect repellent, and deodorant to a complete facial regimen. To this end, all of their products carry the Leaping Bunny International certification, showing no new animal tests were used in developing any product displaying the logo.  Additionally, their Plastic Negative certification confirms that they remove twice as much plastic from the environment as they produce.

Finally, to be entertained while shopping locally, check out the Greenpointers.com Holiday Market on Sunday, December 10, from 1 to 7 p.m. on the 5th floor Greenpoint Loft. The day will be filled with music from The Evergreenpoint Carolers, The Greenpoint String Quartet, the Shawtime Duo, and singer-songwriter Jacob Shipley. As you shop, you can craft your own holiday wreath with floral design studio Milk Weed Botanical and make a sachet of rooftop-grown herbs with our own Eagle Street Rooftop Farm to use in cooking or to add a pleasant holiday aroma to your home. If you are coming as a family, enjoy face painting and arts & crafts courtesy of the Greenpoint YMCA, and have Bianca add some sparkle to your smile with tooth gems. Finally, you can learn what awaits you in the new year with a tarot reading by Alexandra Neumann of Planet Womb and welcome it all with a personalized poem from Ars Poetica.

And what holiday celebration would be complete without food and drink. Get your fill with Gimme Bop’s Korean rice rolls, Stanley’s Pierogi’s homemade pierogi (both vegan and non-vegan), or meat and plant-based sandwiches by Randwiches. Be sure to wash it down with something from Greenpoint Beer & Ale or (non-alcoholic) Anima Mundi Herbals.

With so many choices this season, you can’t go wrong when you keep your business close to home. So, go out and explore, shop, and be merry. And when you get there, be sure to tell them Broadway Stages sent you!. Happy Holidays!