When Keith and Kim Black opened up Vigneto Wine and Gifts seven years ago, they bought into Park Avenue and its pre-recession potential. Along with Arts Echo, they planned to make their portion of Park Avenue, which spans Weehawken and Union City, Hudson County’s very own “Water Tower District.”
“We didn’t want it to turn into a Hoboken. We wanted people to be able to get unusual things that they didn’t have to go to the City for,” Karen Black said.
But with the economy uncorked for the past few years, Vigneto will close at the end of the year. GoodieBox Bakeshop, which operates out of Vigneto, will also close.
“I hope I can come back to Weehawken in 10 years and see the Park Avenue it was supposed to be. The people deserve it,” Black said.
Hard times on Park Avenue
“It’s tough [to leave]. We had such great customers,” Black said. “But how do you keep the doors open and not lose money?”
The Blacks were married five years when they opened Vigneto, envisioning the wine shop as “a business [they could] do together” in their hometown.
“What we really need in Weehawken is a chamber of commerce.” – Karen Black
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With a strained economy and rising rents, “we just couldn’t balance it out anymore,” Black said.
Though Vigneto claims the support of about 50 “really loyal customers,” according to Black, in the end it just wasn’t enough. “I’m going to miss the people that really wanted it to succeed,” she said.
GoodieBox Bakeshop, nestled within Vigneto, may seem like the natural successor the space, but owner Carrie Spindler says the costs are too high.
“You have to sell a lot of cakes and cupcakes to make your rent,” she said.
Maybe they’ll make wine
Though Black is sad to close shop on her loyal customers, she remains optimistic about the future. “I think everything happens for a reason,” she said.
She and her husband have purchased a weekend home on a farm in South Jersey and are envisioning a fresh start and a chance to spend more time with one another.
“I haven’t seen my husband in seven years,” Black joked.
She spoke of the popularity of vineyards in Hunterdon County, the location of their new farm, and contemplated a possible move within the wine world. “Maybe we were supposed to be making wine, not selling it,” she said.
Whatever may be, Black said they’re “not ready to give up on Weehawken just yet.”
Cupcake chronicles
And although Spindler would like to remain in Weehawken as well, she’s currently looking for a place in the surrounding towns to build her business.
Last year, the Blacks invited their “good friend Carrie” to open up her traditional American-style bakery in a corner of Vigneto. For Spindler, the wine and cupcakes partnership has been beneficial, and she hopes to replicate a similar model elsewhere.
Although Spindler is sad to go, she sees Vigneto’s closing as “forcing me to jump off the cliff,” to not get caught in a comfort zone, but rather to move on with her business.
“I just started and the reception’s been great. But I need to grow,” she said.
According to Spindler, her business has come a long way in the last year, and she credits Vigneto for giving her the start she needed after ending a career in the corporate world.
With virtually no following when she started, Spindler has since gained her own regulars, has seen sales grow consistently, and has many followers on her e-mail newsletter and Facebook page who have said, “I will follow you.”
Spindler hopes to open up her new shop by the end of January, but right now is devoting her full attention to busy holiday season, filling cake and pie orders for local residents and providing delivery service to corporate clients in the City – a service, she says, that keeps her afloat.
‘We just want to see things improve’
Black just hopes that the future owners of the Vigneto storefront – whoever they may be – will be committed to the area.
“I think that what we did succeed in is that we learned a lot, and I hope the next people that come up put the flower boxes out front and they sweep in front of the store and be a part of the community,” she said.
One thing Black does not want to see is a vacant storefront like the former Marie’s Beauty Supply next door, which has been unable to find new owners for over a year.
“What we really need in Weehawken is a chamber of commerce, but nobody who owns a business has time for that,” she said, “I’m a pretty strong person, but I don’t think I’m that strong.”
Black said she may consider looking for ways to help small businesses succeed if she and her husband remain in the area.
Deanna Cullen can be reached at dcullen@hudsonreporter.com.