Shop Listener 2023: Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island

Rick Haase, owner of eight Patina gift shops, stands for a photo in one of his stores Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in Woodbury, Minn.
( Abbie Parr / Associated Press )

Summary Transcript

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We will wrap up today's show with Day 2 of our Shop Listener series. What is this? Well, today we are inviting those of you who own brick-and-mortar stores and are selling holiday gifts. If your brick-and-mortar stores are located in Queens, The Bronx, or Staten Island. Today, just Queens, The Bronx, or Staten Island, do you sell something that would make a great gift this holiday season? Call in and promote your business. We want to help everybody who's out there in WNYC land shop from other WNYC listeners. 212-433-WNYC. If you own a brick-and-mortar store that sells holiday gifts in Queens, The Bronx, or Staten Island, 212-433-9692.

Yesterday, we did Manhattan and Brooklyn kicking off the series. Tomorrow heads up Garden Staters, it's going to be for New Jersey brick-and-mortar store owners who sell holiday gifts. On Thursday, if you have one on Long Island or in the northern suburbs, and then Friday will be for people who are selling online-only holiday gifts and don't have brick-and-mortar stores. Today, if you have a brick-and-mortar store in Queens, The Bronx, or Staten Island, and you sell something that would make a great gift this holiday season, we're giving you the chance in our Shop Listener series to promote your store and promote your wares. 212-433-WNYC.

For those of you who never heard of this before, every year when the holiday season rolls around, we run this Shop Listener series on the show in which we invite those of you, small business owners, listening in to call in and promote yourself. It's one way that we give back to our community of listeners who are out there year round creating community with your call-ins, with your text messages, with your donations, we hope, and whether or not you donate, this is our way of helping to connect the community of WNYC listeners. If you haven't gone gift shopping yet or haven't finished it yet, consider buying from a fellow Brian Lehrer Show WNYC listener rather than anyone else.

Avoid the big box stores unless Mr. Target, you want to call in, you're a Brian Lehrer Show listener, I guess you could do that. 212-433-9692. I also want to give everybody the web address because we're creating an online catalog for those of you who can't get through on the phones in any of these categories this week and that is wnyc.org/shoplistener. You can be from anywhere or just be selling online and post at any time. You don't have to wait for a specific day for that. If you want to list your holiday gift-selling business on our website, it's wnyc.org/shoplistener.

For those of you who have brick-and-mortar stores and you're selling holiday gifts anywhere in Queens, The Bronx, or Staten Island, you're up next on the phones, 212-433-WNYC. 433-9692. We'll take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Day 2 of our Shop Listener series as we're going around our region day by day this week. Today, if you own a brick-and-mortar store, or run it, or work there, that's selling holiday gifts from anywhere in Queens, The Bronx, or Staten Island, call up and shout out your wares, shout out your location, and hopefully, other listeners will shop at your place. 212-433-WNYC. Katie on Staten Island, you're on WNYC. Hi, Katie.

Katie: Oh, great. Hi, Brian. I'm a huge fan of your show. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. What you got?

Katie: I run the Every Thing Goes Book Cafe in Staten Island on Bay Street. It's not far from the Staten Island Ferry, so it's really easy to get here. We're the only used bookstore in Staten Island, so we have a tremendous selection of really great books. Some of them are collectibles or vintage books. Some of them are just interesting local authors and a few new books that we order. We also sell coffee. For gifts, we have coffee beans by Equal Exchange. It's organic and fair trade. We've bagged the coffee beans and chocolate bars from Equal Exchange. They make great gifts.

We also have boxes of tea, really wonderful teas from a local company called SerendipiTea. We also have wonderful tote bags with our design, our logo, and they're really great.

Brian Lehrer: Sounds great. I don't know if there are bestsellers among used books, but is anything hot at the store these days?

Katie: Yes, what's hot is some of the banned books are hot. Also, the Killers of the Flower Moon because it was recently turned into a movie, and also because it's an important part of our history. I don't get enough copies of some of these things, classic literature.

Brian Lehrer: That's great. Just say the name of your store again.

Katie: Every Thing Goes Book Cafe.

Brian Lehrer: Katie, thank you very much. Good luck with it all this holiday season. Tom in Astoria, you're on WNYC. Hi, Tom.

Tom: Hi, Brian. Thanks for the opportunity again. I'm a painter and people may have seen me over the past decade working in Manhattan on the Flatiron Building or on 42nd Street of various views of the Chrysler. Now, I'm selling from my studio in Astoria by appointment. I'm right between the Steinway and the Broadway stations in Astoria.

Brian Lehrer: How do people get in touch?

Tom: I'm on Instagram. It's Tom Barlow with a B, Tombarlowpainting. I'm unable to paint on the street at this time, so I'm selling from the studio.

Brian Lehrer: Tom, thank you very much. Good luck there. Ellen, who's got something in Long Island City, not far from Tom in Astoria. Ellen, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Ellen: Hi. I am a scientist. We have a non-profit biotech lab, it's a community lab called Biotech Without Borders in Long Island City on 21st Street. We run classes for the general public. We have gift certificates, which would make a perfect gift for anyone who's curious about science. The classes are a lot of fun, and you don't need any experience. We want to engage everyone with biotech.

Brian Lehrer: Biotech Without Borders. How do people get in touch?

Ellen: You can go to our website at biotechwithoutborders.org, or we also have an Eventbrite page.

Brian Lehrer: Ellen, thank you very much. That sounds awesome. Adam in Forest Hills, you're on WNYC. Hi, Adam.

Adam: Hi, Brian. Do you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: I can hear you fine. What you got?

Adam: Oh. I'm part of a mushroom farm in Queens called Mushroom Queens. We sell at the farmer's market in Queens along with other farmer's markets around the city. For the holidays, people really love the mushroom grow kits where you could grow the mushrooms at home, and in about a week, you have a full flush of mushrooms. We also have mushroom extracts. For the holiday season, we'll have other mushroom products like mushroom jerky, mushroom cheese, and mushroom salts.

Brian Lehrer: Wow, a mushroom farm right in Queens. How do people get in touch?

Adam: You can find us at mushroomqueens.com or on Instagram @mushroomqueens.

Brian Lehrer: Mushroom Queens from Adam in Forest Hills. Here's Neem, who's got a business in Riverdale in The Bronx. Neem, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Neem: Hi. Hi, Brian. Thanks so much for taking my call. Long-time listener. Yes, we have a little women-run, women-owned, person of color-owned small business that runs out of Riverdale, The Bronx. We serve the communities of Riverdale, The Bronx, and Yonkers. Sorry, I'm a bit nervous. [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: You're doing great. Don't worry.

Neem: We offer yoga classes of all levels, both online and in person. We could really use more of the community support and we offer classes as holiday gift. The website is yogaforbliss.net.

Brian Lehrer: Yogaforbliss.net. Neem, thank you very much. We'll wrap it up with somebody else whose business seems to have bliss in the title. Violet in Sunnyside, Queens. Hi, Violet, we've got 30 seconds for you. Go for it.

Violet: Okay. Hey, it's Violet at Bliss Vintage & Handmade over in Sunnyside. It's right off the 7 train on the Bliss Street stop, straight down the hill. I work with local independent makers, handmade, fair trade, and hand-restored vintage clothing. It's 340 square feet but it's jam-packed full of bliss.

Brian Lehrer: Bliss, vintage, and handmade works on Bliss Street in Queens by the Bliss Street subway stop on the number 7 line. That's all the time we have for phone calls for you for your businesses from The Bronx, and Queens, and Staten Island today. Remember, the rest of you and anybody from anywhere who's selling holiday gifts can take part in our Shop Listener guide by going to wnyc.org/shoplistener and listing your visit and everybody else consider buying your holiday gifts from a fellow Brian Lehrer Show WNYC listener. Wnyc.org/shoplistener to list on or to view our Shop Listener guide.

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