Larchmont Merchants Staying Local, Online

by Paula Eisenberg

(October 9, 2003) Larchmont shoppers have always been able to stroll through the Palmer Avenue and Post Road shopping districts, discovering new stores and checking out the merchandise at their favorite retailers. Now they have another way to keep current, from the comfort of their own homes: larchmontshops.com, a new online site for local merchants.

Gabriel Blau, VP, LarchmontShops.com

Vice-President Gabriel Blau, an Internet marketing consultant with a theology degree from Bard College and a background in computer graphics, says LarchmontShops.com is a way to help small business owners harness the power of the Internet. "Local merchants want to be online, but they don't want to go to all the expense and hassle of creating their own websites," he told the Gazette. "We provide them a cost-effective, easy way to have a site and update it themselves as often as they want."

Co-owner and company president Rose Ann Hermann said, "The Web is the Yellow Pages of the new century, and we bring local business sites together in one place, where they're easy for customers to find." A self-described former computer-phobe, Hermann says she now uses the Internet "constantly." "Store owners don't have time to learn a bunch of new technologies, and our system really is very easy," she said. A member of the LarchmontShops.com network is assigned a secure username and password, and can then login and use the web browser to add text and images to a template page. "Anybody can do it, and we provide any hand-holding needed at first," Blau said.

Rose Ann Hermann, President, LarchmontShops.com

With 27 Larchmont stores already signed up and "live" on the website, Blau and Hermann are working hard to help the storeowners get their pages full of content. Already, you can visit Larchmont Floral Design's page and find out about the shop's free rose offer, or see colorful photos of some of the many fabrics available at Gaita Interiors. Want to find out how much Valet Cleaners charges for laundering shirts, or what you'll find on the shelves at Bead Dazzled? It's all there, a couple of clicks away from the entry page at larchmontshops.com.

Lee Rubin, owner of Wendy G! on Palmer Avenue, is thrilled with the new service. "We want to keep local shoppers in Larchmont, give them an opportunity to learn about our store before they even come in," he said. "Our customers are our neighbors, and we needed another way to communicate with them. This site is user-friendly and easy for us to update, a way for us to showcase our merchandise."

Blau and Hermann plan to offer coupons in their email newsletter, and they are currently advertising the site in local print media, on MetroNorth's Larchmont train schedules, and here on the Gazette's pages. "We're all about marketing, getting the word out," said Blau. "The Internet is just another way to do that." In the future, he and Hermann plan to expand their concept beyond Larchmont.

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