R.E.D. on Main Street

Rebecca Dolber has been making jewelry for 15 years, but it started out as just
a hobby.

“My first craft fair was actually here in Center Moriches,” said Dolber, a Center Moriches resident. “I was living in New York at the time. I went home, and I
felt comfortable there.”

And Dolber did well. She started participating in several various craft fairs,
including Alive After Five in Patchogue, and displaying and selling her work.

Dolber made some big decisions while working in the television industry in
New York City.

“I just really loved doing this. I moved back to Long Island,” Dolber said. “I got
myself a website on Etsy. I was selling on my website, and then I built out a
wholesale account. That is what enabled me to do it full time.”

In a matter of four years, Dolber accrued 18 stores on Long Island, including yoga studios, surf shops, boutiques, and small art collectives.

“They weren’t necessarily pop-up [businesses]. A lot of them were established businesses,” she said. “I would say, to build up to that number, it took about four years. It is a short amount of time. I could be selling anything. What I
love is the connection with people. When I started reaching out to other small
local business, I pitched myself of that same vein. It was just an immediate connection with people. I have often found that people want to support you if you just give them the opportunity. They did, and they continued to buy from me.”

When opening R.E.D., which is Dolber’s initials, she stressed the point that everything in the store is handmade by herself within the establishment.

“Nothing is brought in from China or other places, or marked up to sell to
the community. In addition to having a really good quality to it and a really
good energy behind it, everything can be customizable.”

Dolber sizes bracelets and customizes focals, for example.

“You are getting a tailored experience,” she said. “You don’t really hear of
that a lot these days.”

R.E.D. is a pop-up shop, and Dolber said her short-term plan is to stay put in
the location on Main Street through the holidays.

“What happened was that, with the pandemic, I, like a lot of businesses that
I sell to, couldn’t open,” Dolber said. “And then once we were able to open, it
was very hard to buy a new inventory.”

The wholesale part of Dolber’s business really dropped off, along with the
fact that for the past three years, she popped up at Silly Lilly Fishing Station,
which is another local business in East Moriches.

“I had my studio in there from Memorial Day through Labor Day. With the
pandemic, everything had to be moved outside to open air, so I lost my spot
there,” she said. “A few of the different arms of my business went from 60 to
zero.

Dolber knows the owner of the building, and she was able make some space
for her storefront.

“I kind of had that as an office space [at Silly Lilly] to work out of year-round.
When everything changed, I knew that I needed something that was more walkin accessible,” Dolber explained. With a new location to practice and
sell her handmade crafts, Dolber is surely an ingrained member of the Moriches community.