Getting Spiritual on the Wharf
 Kate Maier |
(5/21/2008) Sag Harbor Village still boasts a variety store and more than one place to buy a bona fide greeting card. And despite the soaring price of flour, Vincenzo’s Pizza offers a lunch special of a double slice with a soda for 5 bucks.
Nearing the wharf, however, new businesses have been shooting up to cater to yoga aficionados and the health-minded consumer, including the aptly titled Weekend Warrior sports outfitter next to the Cigar Bar.
Last week, another luxury beauty salon sprang up just across from Style Bar on Bay Street called Salon Xavier, which offers organic beauty products and a spectrum of detoxifying treatments and pedicure packages. Topping the list are haircuts by the very Parisian stylist Xavier Merat, who has worked in the harbor area for the past 11 years, previously at the Xavier Merat salon on Main Street.
“Sag Harbor is very attuned to what is very spiritually orientated. We had a pretty big clientele and needed to get a little bigger,” he explained, adding a pitch for the natural shampoos and facial treatments he sells. “Today, I think we need to be more orientated to organic products, not just produce.”
But produce is good too, and so is yoga, which is why Mr. Merat has teamed up with Juicy Naam in East Hampton, which offers juices, universal Kabbalah consultations, and yoga instruction.
Starting at $860, the two businesses are selling a three-day spiritual cleansing package that includes a raw food diet, daily yoga instruction, and, on Mr. Merat’s end, lymphatic drainage massage, a manicure and detoxifying pedicure, and even a colon hydrotherapy treatment.
Yoga is also the inspiration at Urban Zen, the charity-inspired brainchild of Donna Karan, which is slated to open its doors next to Tutto Il Giorno on Bay Street this weekend.
Designer fashions by Ms. Karan and others, coupled with furniture, essential oils, and photography will make up the merchandise. Ten percent of the store’s profits are promised to Ms. Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation, a charity that donates to organizations that focus on “well-being, empowering children, and preserving cultures.”
Ms. Karan, who has a house in East Hampton, came up with the idea behind the store’s mission with fellow designer, Sonja Nuttall. For Ms. Karan, the well-being seed was planted seven years ago when her husband, Stephan Weiss, was dying of cancer.
“Why she started in the first place,” said Kevin Salyers, the store’s vice president of retail, “was to bring in yoga therapy to a hospital setting,” where there are “not always alternative solutions.”
Rodney and Colleen Yee, who run Yoga Shanti on Washington Street, are “involved in the organization as well,” said Mr. Salyers, who added that the couple had “shown a lot of the same vision.”
“We wanted to create an environment that people will want to spend time at, and take advantage of the natural landscape,” Mr. Salyers said over a cup of soup from the Golden Pear on Monday. Workers were breaking up rocks on the patio outside the store, where bamboo will be planted. “Our goal is it has an aura about it that people will feel good interacting with.”
Sculpture and furniture from Bali will complete the look, which will be similar to the Urban Zen store Ms. Karan opened in the West Village last year. According to Mr. Salyers, two more stores are in the works in Los Angeles and Sun Valley, Idaho.
Ms. Karan’s daughter, Gabby Karan De Felice, along with her husband, Gian Paolo De Felice, helped Ms. Karan to seal the deal.
“We are friendly with Donna’s daughter and son-in-law, and we knew Donna was looking for space,” said Larry Baum, the owner of both properties. Mr. Baum couldn’t be happier about the new addition. He said that he’s already received a call from Zagat confirming that Tutto Il Giorno, which opened last year, will be named best new restaurant on Long Island.
“Donna’s daughter designed the interior of the restaurant, and she and her husband are potential investors,” he said.
“The whole Urban Zen philosophy is not about a box store in East Hampton,” said Mr. Baum. “When you see it, it’s kind of a living, breathing thing. The store itself has great character, and outdoor space. It’s a very sort of Zen-like experience.”
“Being a world traveler, Donna has identified with cultures that are disappearing,” said Mr. Salyers. The store gives her a chance to put her energy into philanthropy, something Mr. Salyers assured is very much a part of what the designer is about.
“I think everyone knows Donna as Donna Karan New York, and certainly that is a large part of her life,” he said. “I think she would also agree that Urban Zen represents the rest of her life.”
More information is available about the foundation at www.urbanzen.org.