Moose Crossing is a work of creative retail passion, made up of hundreds of one-of-a-kind pieces by dozens of fine crafters. Items ranging from hand-worked bone knives and wooden toys to antler chandeliers and major pieces of furniture can be found in this Shokan store. It has got everything one could need to furnish a rustic cabin or add outdoorsy accents to any living space.
“PEOPLE WHO ARE DRAWN TO THE LIFESTYLE MOTIF WE OFFER COME FROM HUNDREDS OF MILES.”
“People stop at the store expecting that they’ll be able to see everything in ten minutes,” said Dennis Sharp, Moose Crossing’s storeowner. “Forty-five minutes later, they’re still exploring.”
Sharp closed his men’s clothing store in Kingston Plaza when IBM left Kingston back in 1991, and he and his wife, Donna, took a break from retail to consider what they would most love to do. Seven years later, in 1998, Moose Crossing was born.
“The nice thing is the way the community has embraced us in a very generous way,” Sharp said. “Locals are the heart of our business, but then, I had a regular from the Carolinas come in yesterday. She’s been coming in for ten years, every time she’s up visiting family. People who are drawn to the lifestyle motif we offer come from hundreds of miles.”
THE STORE’S THEME IS DRIVEN BY A BLEND OF SOUND BUSINESS SENSE AND A DEEP LOVE OF ALL THINGS WOODSY.
“We have been campers at Lake George Islands for 30 years,” said Sharp. “We found several stores in the Adirondacks somewhat like this. The Catskills are glorious in their own right and actually originated that kind of getaway log cabin or timber-frame aesthetic. We thought the Catskills would be an ideal setting for this.”
Dennis and Donna travel to several states on buying expeditions, exercising exquisite taste by gathering things from the quirky to the classical. Plus, if you can imagine the perfect piece, but do not see it in the store, Sharp knows who can make it for you.
THE SHARPS HAVE AN EYE FOR THE UNUSUAL AND THE EXCELLENT...
whether it is a piece made by a First Peoples weaver or an Adirondack woodcrafter. Twig, Mission, Adirondack, and Shaker furniture is featured in the store, along with upholstered furniture and some entirely unique pieces.
“I have these Jack Daniels barrels that make great bistro tables,” he said. “I have a coffee table in the shape of a sleigh and a deerskin centerpiece adorned with antler and turquoise. It’s not stuff you’d find everywhere.”
MOOSE CROSSING
1 Reservoir Road Shokan
845-657-9792
