Eastdale: Business Benefits
Eastdale is a small community in Poughkeepsie, New York, that offers locals a glimpse of an alternative reality.
From a business standpoint, Eastdale provides unparalleled opportunities for small businesses. The management team maintains the property, attracts customers with events, and promotes desirability through their website and social media accounts.
A 40-year-old family market and deli, Alimentari Rossi & Sons, came to Eastdale to expand its customer base and gain exposure. Fabio Rossi, owner and general manager talked about his immigrant parents’ mission to open a traditional Italian market.
Rossi’s parents came here in the 1960s from Calabria, Italy, with little education and desire for a better life. They held the concept of making “everything in-house: steaks, meat, sauce, and bread. Full-service catering and imported Italian goods,” said Rossi.
Rossi’s parents opened their flagship store in Poughkeepsie in 1979 after working 5–6 years as a cook and seamstress, saving $17,000. They worked every day, seven days a week, for ten years.
Rossi decided to open another Alimentari Rossi & Sons location in Eastdale, offering a different menu and the values of a meaningful working relationship with owners. The Kirchoff, Dyson, and Silver families are the principal owners of Eastdale. They help all businesses and are responsible for keeping the outside grounds manicured. The owners made no-competition clauses for the shops, so there’s no conflict of interest, which relieves owners’ stress.
The main benefit of their new location in Eastdale was the corner storefront; “location was key for us,” added Rossi. People out east will come, and people four miles across the river will come; “Eastdale is a network.” Rossi expressed that this business opportunity holds the concept of “live, work, play here,” and few places in the area offer a destination like that.
Eastdale values events to draw attention to the community: Easter bunny hunt, cancer walks, charitable events, farmers markets, and even a park on both sides. “The Eastdale environment breeds a space to stay and use,” quoted Rossi. Perfect for a lazy afternoon.
“The location is very specific geographically; there are several towns within 5–7 miles, typically 20 minutes, and under you is your drive; thousands of cars drive through route 44 to get to Poughkeepsie and work, and they see our sign,” said Rossi.
On the other major corner of Eastdale lies a Refillery shop with over 300 nonperishable package-free food and household products. Rebecca Lysenko, owner and founder of The Refillery Storehouse in Eastdale, added to the conversation that Eastdale enhances business growth. “They are still developing. Every day, there is a new business, and it shows we’re a continuously growing community of businesses.”
Lysenko added, “I was in touch with Eastdale three years prior to opening. It offered me more time to research and find the reasoning behind bulk items.” She opened in September of 2023 and has strived for the past six months with “the benefits on businesses in Eastdale is foot traffic.”
Lysenko shares that event incentives draw traffic with website promotions, clothing racks on the street, extended hours to 8 pm, live music, and food trucks. The Refillery offers “a tap beer wall, so people come in, grab a beer, and attend live music outside.”
Eastdale fills the void of weekend entertainment for Hudson Valley residents; nowhere else in Poughkeepsie offers a one-stop destination for eating, shopping, and roaming.
