Couple Celebrates Small Business Saturday With 'Epic' Journey

RIVERHEAD, NY — For Robert Keenaghan and his wife Kirsten, Small Business Saturday, which takes place on Nov. 25, has special meaning.

The couple's store, EPIC Jeans in Riverhead's Tanger Outlet, is, he said, an individually and locally owned shop amidst a sea of international chains and brands.

And it's the down home touch that Keenaghan firmly believes makes his business and role in the community unique.

Both Keenaghan and his wife have been employees for the company since 1998, when there were more stores in the chain, and worked their way up through the company until finally purchasing it in early 2016 when the founder’s son and CEO, William Siegel was ready to retire, he said.

They both started as part time sales associates and worked their way up through the ranks to being managers, district managers, and then regionals; next, Kristen got a position in the purchasing department and he assumed a post in operations, Keenaghan said.

"Before taking over the company, I was the executive vice president and Kristen was the head buyer, and she also handled many of the day to day operations and decision making. In 2016 when we purchased EPIC Jeans in Riverhead, which opened in 2005, it was the last remaining store. We also launched our website that year," he said.

Being a mom and pop amidst a sea of chain stores and name brands isn't always easy, Keenaghan said.

"We are going up against these large chains, many of which are international, publicly traded companies, that have multi-million dollar marketing budgets. Many are household names and have teams of people working on every aspect of the business. We do it all ourselves with a team of 3 managers and 4 employees," he said.

But the rewards are great, Keenaghan added.

"One of the biggest benefits for the customer of being a small locally owned business is that we are able to directly interact with our shoppers and hear their thoughts on what they want and what they wish we sold," he said. "Over the summer we had quite a lot of parents coming in, wishing that we sold the same kind of clothes for young children and toddlers. We were immediately able to go out into the marketplace and speak with many of our brands and bring in several options of very cool, fast fashioned clothes for the young kids for the back to school season. It’s been one of our fastest growing areas going into the holiday season."

Personally, Keenaghan said, working with his wife is a bonus of owning a mom and pop shop, of sharing a dream and a vision.

"We get to spend a lot of time together in the store as well as being able to come up with new ideas or talk about the business when we’re not in the store working," he said. "We also love having the opportunity to bring our children into the store occasionally for them to see how a business works and for them to understand that a good work ethic is essential to running a successful business."

The couple, who lives in Lake Grove, has three store managers, Donny Strein, Abigail Ordmandy, and Kaitlin Fibkins. Keenaghan is a former Riverhead resident; his sister and her family live in Calverton.

"We love it out in Riverhead, but because we often have to go into the city for meetings with many of our brands, we chose a town more centrally located on the island so we’re not too far from the train to get into New York City, yet only a half hour from Riverhead to get to the store," he said.

Customers, Keenaghan said, can benefit from the personal care of a family owned business, run with love.

"We try to connect to each and every customer. When customers come into our store, they know us and we know them and I think that is a big part of why people are sometimes more comfortable shopping with us. We also listen to them. If customers are telling us they want a certain look or trend, we go right out and get it for them. If they want a size 3 XL in a specific North Face jacket, we will order it for them and get it if it’s available."

He added, "People really like that one-on-one that they get at EPIC and are likely not getting at the larger chains. We also do things locally like partnering up with local clothing designer Anthony Harris and selling his line, LIR Clothing, in the store. People really liked seeing his brand in our store and it did very well. We love working with talented individuals like Anthony because he gives back a tremendous amount to the Riverhead community and is always hosting special events where he donates food or clothes to kids in the area."

And there's no time better for sharing the love with customers than during the holiday season, Keenaghan said.

The best part of his job, he said, is "making people happy. I can’t tell you how many people walk in the store and are so happy that we carry the styles and brands that they’re looking for. When a parent walks in with a shopping list on their phone of 10 items that they’ve never heard of and we’re able to cross a few of those items off their list, it’s priceless."

Patch courtesy photo.