Special Sauce Celebrates Two Years on Main Street

Special Sauce owners Chris Santucci and Pete Szczebak will celebrate two years in Huntington this summer as the village's premiere skateboard, surf, and snowboard boutique. 

Located at 303 Main Street this store is the scion of the original Bay Shore location.

Szczebak is manager, marketing guru, and demo organizer; he is in essence the spoon that stirs the 'special sauce.'  He talks passionately about extreme sports saying, "Many compliment us on our expertise, and we appreciate that, but our overall philosophy is that we are willing to go above and beyond for our customers.  Our outlook on service means that the store is more than just another skate shop."

Special Sauce has gained a reputation with skateboarders throughout Long Island for staying on the cutting edge with boards, brands, and clothing.
 
"Overall, this is a great store for clothes and gear.  They go the whole nine yards for you and they are very supportive of the skate scene," said Walt Whitman High School student and skateboarder Steve Di'Phillips.

Karen Smith, a parent of two teenage boys who are avid skateboarders and is a regular shopper at 'Sauce,' said "It is more than their knowledge of products than anything else [that keeps us shopping here]; it is the desire to educate the customer with a friendly approach that is respectful to me and cool with my kids." 

The store is not your garage-style skateboard hangout; it is an upscale, loft-style store with an art gallery.  This is a beautiful shop, finely decorated with dark-wood cabinetry.  Street art adorns the walls, skateboards, and clothes are displayed like paintings in a gallery. 

House music plays, more recently Dub-step that Szczebak describes as "a type of electronic mash up of dance music and overwhelming bass lines," to me this sound keeps the beat to the underlying raw energy of this stayed looking extreme sports purveyor.

An important part of the store is the art gallery on the second floor. "The gallery is here for everyone.  Special Sauce is committed to the local art scene and wants to provide a sense of inclusiveness aimed towards kids and adults, and not just for established artists but those wanting to put on their first show too,"  Szczebak said. "The gallery is open to all genres and if you bring a portfolio down to the store it could be considered for a gallery showing."  

The next Special Sauce gallery show is scheduled for June 26 at 8pm and will feature the work of a collective group of artists known as Art Off Paper who emphasize graffiti, oil painting, and fine arts.  The exhibition will include live entertainment provided by Szczebak and his crew.

Special Sauce  features  products from Nike, Emerica, ES, Real, Anti-Hero, and Crooked, among others.

"No one will see somebody wearing the same thing from our store.  We have a certain degree of exclusivity.  This is another part of our mix," Szczebak said.