Farmingdale’s Amy Fischer had a dream. Originally from Trinidad, Fischer came to the United States in 1992 when she was only 18 years old to attain her version of the American dream. After working in the corporate world for years with marketing and publishing companies that weren’t giving it their all, Fischer had enough and pondered about doing something for herself—like opening up her own business.
Now, that business and that dream has materialized into her opening up a brand new consignment boutique called Lucy’s Treasures in Wantagh.
“I came here and went to college and built a life for myself. I came to [America] on July 4, actually, which is a very special day for me,” said Fischer.
Before Lucy’s Treasures, Fischer explored many different business options, including even opening up her own hot sauce business at one point because of her mom’s great hot sauce recipe. But a meeting with another budding entrepreneur led to a dream partnership.
“I have to thank my boyfriend Joe of six years who works for South Island Realty,” said Fischer. “He was showing Maria [Scarpati], the storefront of Lucy’s, which was Maria’s idea actually. The store is named after her beautiful granddaughter.”
Scarpati who is now partners with Fischer at Lucy’s Treasures, had two potential business partners who fell through. After her boyfriend Joe recommended Fischer to Scarpati, Fischer’s boyfriend told her about Scarpati’s misfortune in finding a partner. Having a decision to make, Fischer slept on the idea for a day and consulted some of her friends about her possible new job venture. Her friends were all supportive.
“I met with Maria and it just evolved from there,” explained Fischer. “We connected which is really important to do. We both shared the same vision of what we wanted, what the store would be like and the experience for the shoppers and just ran with it.”
Within six weeks of meeting one another, they signed a lease and Lucy’s Treasures had its grand opening late last month, which had a great reception from the community who came out to show their support.
At the boutique, people can find a variety of women’s merchandise that expands to all ages. Shoes, accessories and handbags are also sold at the boutique where everything is based on consignment.
“People buy stuff and sometimes don’t wear it and leave it in their closet or they wear it once and they have no need for it again,” said Fischer. “We’re giving people the opportunity to sell it and make a profit and then we make a profit too.”
And it seems that Fischer’s and Scarpati’s competitors—eBay and PoshMark—won’t be too much of an issue. The consignment boutique had two consignees pull their items off PoshMark who decided to sell with Lucy’s Treasures instead.
“Being in Wantagh, we’ve received an incredible amount of support from the people in the area and surrounding area,” said Fischer. “Everyone that walks in, they’re impressed by our store and most of all they love the fact that it’s local to their town. It’s very convenient and they love it.”
Plus, Fischer feels that people nowadays are more into the shop local mentality.
“I think people realize the value of when a small business starts up in their community. It helps grow the infrastructure of that town and people are seeing more of that and supporting more of that, so we’re very happy and we’ve been welcomed with open arms,” Fischer said. “The people here are very warm and friendly. We get a lot of families and there are a lot of small businesses around the area, so I think all of that made Wantagh the perfect place to open.”
Five years from now, Fischer hopes that Lucy’s Treasures will be a household name.
She would also like to expand the business.
“I see something like a consignment store for children’s clothes [in the future],” said Fischer. “I think when you look at a lot of moms—children grow a little fast and moms buy beautiful clothes for their kids who can’t wear it the next time around. It’s the same principle.”
Lucy’s Treasures is located at 1890A Wantagh Ave., in Wantagh. The boutique’s hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information, check out the Lucy’s Treasures Facebook page.
