Brittney Eramo, left, and her mother Sandy, stand in front of Grace & Park, their new retail clothing space, downtown Pittston. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. Beverages and light snacks will be served.
Brittney Eramo, left, and her mother Sandy, stand in their clothing retail space, Grace & Park, 12 South Main St., Pittston. Clothing displays and racks have been ordered and will soon be filled for the ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 4 p.m.
PITTSTON – When businessman and developer Rob Bresnahan revamped 12 South Main St., he was looking for someone special to occupy the first floor retail space of his three-story building. It took him a while to find exactly what he was looking for, but he found it with Sandy and Brittney Eramo.
The mother/daughter duo will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the downtown location of their brick and mortar store, Grace & Park on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. Beverages and light snacks will be served.
“When Brittney and Sandy came to me, they had incredible passion, a business plan, and I felt their positivity in their energy that I knew they would bring this (Grace & Park) to fruition,” Bresnahan said. “I thought for downtown Pittston they would bring a diverse set of products that traditionally doesn’t exist yet and I thought they would be a great part of the redevelopment of downtown.”
Bresnahan admitted he didn’t know what he wanted to occupy in the over 1,700-square-foot retail space.
“Although there could have been a lot of different applications for that space, I love seeing young, motivated entrepreneurs that are willing to just go for it,” Bresnahan said. “I’m a unique developer that, what’s not just good for me, but what’s good for the city and overall good for the rehabilitation of the downtown. I believe they (Eramos) are going to be an incredible partner.”
Grace & Park online pop-up shop was created by Brittney three-years ago, but it was her dream all along to have a storefront.
Brittney, 24, said she always has had a passion for fashion and with mother’s expertise in retail clothing sales for over 20-years, it was a matter of time when the two would open a store.
“When she was very young, Brittney was always my shopping partner and she would say, ‘We are going to do this some day,’” Sandy said. “This is something she went to college for and when she came home, she started her online business. After three-years, the timing is right. We looked around at different spaces but we came and looked at this building, we thought it was perfect.”
Sandy said she called Bresnahan on a whim and Brittney introduced herself to Bresnahan and eventually presented him with a PowerPoint presentation that sealed the deal.
“That’s what won him over, I think,” Brittney said, who attended West Virginia University for fashion design and merchandising. “I really love fashion and I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Brittney will serve as the main buyer and Sandy will provide her retail sales and merchandising expertise for 12 South Main St.
Even though Grace & Park will have a physical store, Brittney said with the popularity of social media, there is no reason to stop online sales.
The pop-up shop has had online clients from California, Canada, Texas, New Zealand, according to Sandy.
“We are probably going to buy a lot more product,” Brittney admitted. “We are doing two separate entities. We can’t wait to see it grow.”
Both Eramos said the City of Pittston was very helpful in getting the storefront moving forward.
“Everybody is just so friendly and caring,” Brittney said. “Mayor Lombardo is the best and Mary, the Main Street manager, has been over the top and both are meeting with us all the time. We never felt we were doing this all alone. This feels like home.”
“Rob (Bresnahan) has been a gift,” Sandy said. “We really feel blessed to have Rob.”
“Yes,” Brittney agrees. “He’s like our fairy Godfather.”
