Main Street Highland Park Article

Centerpiece Owner: Retail is Alive and Well in Highland Park

Main Street Highland Park

Retail is not dead, especially in Highland Park. Sales along Raritan Avenue have been strong this holiday season, despite dire predictions.

Centerpiece owner Sheryl Magaziner has a message to convey: retail is not dead, especially in Highland Park.

Sales at Centerpiece, 312 Raritan Avenue, have been strong this holiday season, in spite of the dire sales predictions being made by financial pundits. Her Black Friday sales were among the best she’s had since she opened the store in 2003 and they’ve remained steady.

“It’s not like we haven’t had to make some adjustments because of the economy, but it’s not as bad as they make it seem when you turn on the news,” Sheryl said. “Retail is not dead; not in Highland Park. Happily, people are supporting us.”

One of the adjustments Sheryl made is stocking her shelves with lower-priced, high-quality items. Many of the gifts she stocks sell in the $10-$15 range, such as fashion accessories for women and men, accoutrements for coffee and tea and educational toys for children. Relief Bead bracelets that benefit humanitarian efforts in Darfur sell for $12.

Some other unique items Centerpiece carries include: dishware from Fire and Light, a glass company that uses 100 percent recycled glass with a special pigment that gives their products an iridescent sparkle, hand-blown glass pens and fair-trade Zulu Grass Necklaces.

The quintessential Centerpiece experience is strolling into the store and asking Sheryl, or another staff member, to help assemble a combination of gifts. Centerpiece helps customers mix and match merchandise, choose complementary accessories and then gift wraps everything, free of charge. The store has been known for its beautiful, free gift wrap service since it opened.

Centerpiece opened in September of 2003, when Sheryl and her business partner Steve Gabel realized their dream of opening up a craft shop in Highland Park. They envisioned a store that was part retail, part gathering place. They sold coffee in the back of the store and invited people to come relax and socialize. Their business model evolved to focus more on retail during the first few years. Now it is a place residents and shoppers from out of town come to for gifts appropriate for all types of budgets.

“When we first opened, we suffered from a perception that we were very expensive,” Sheryl said. “While we do have some expensive items, I think the perception comes from being something new in town. People thought our merchandise was more expensive than it really is. Even today, we still have people who come in and say ‘Oh, this isn’t as expensive as I thought it would be.’”

Centerpiece is offering a special deal for the month of December. Customers receive a $5 coupon for every $50 they spend during the month. The coupons are redeemable in January for every $15 spent. For more information, contact Centerpiece at (732) 418-2000 or visit www.centerpiecegifts.com.

Holiday Promotion

Spotlight: Elaine Coyne Galleries

Elaine Coyne, designer, is known for her sculptures and her experimental finishes, sculptural earth and verdigris patinas.

Here is Elaine, describing her creative process:

"Prior to creating a new design, I read art historians, visit museums and galleries throughout the world. Then I spend hours in my art library. These extensive studies allow me to assimilate the place, manner and feel the artist explored at the time of creation. I allow those feelings to wash over me. At that point, my creations are those of my inner being and my assimilation.

"Every detail is critical after the flow of ideas give the creation a sense of calm. Our production department insures that the creativity and minute details are reborn in every creation."