A plastic bench, shaped like a giant waffle cone ice cream sundae, won’t be the symbol of retail in East Hampton Village this summer. That confection was removed from the front of Dylan’s Candy Bar in early May.
“It wasn’t classy at all,” said East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, who asked that it be pitched. “If they wanted to keep it, they would have had to go in front of the design review board. It would have been a tough sell.”
Perhaps instead, it will be a David Yarrow image titled “James?” from the Sorrel Sky Gallery that recently opened in East Hampton Square. In it, a woman contemplates the mountains of St. Moritz. Her back is turned to the camera. While she’s not wearing pants, presumably she’s kept warm by her short fur coat and shaggy white boots. The fingers of her left hand rest on the hood of an Aston Martin with the license plate, JB007.
Mr. Yarrow is the best-selling photographer worldwide, according to Shanan Campbell, the owner and operator of the gallery.
“His work is not intimidating,” she said in a phone call Tuesday. “It’s approachable.” Prices for his limited-edition photos are available only upon request.
Another of Mr. Yarrow’s images, “Palm Beach,” a rare color shot, is of the Colony Hotel, whose owners, Andrew and Sarah Wetenhall, just cut the ribbon on the newly renovated Hedges Inn, overlooking Town Pond. The inn is now home to Swifty’s, a year-round, 100-seat restaurant that is “a natural destination for family breakfasts, impromptu lunches, celebratory dinners, and everything in between,” according to Resy.com.
Approachable is a buzzword with a second meaning around the square, set in the geographic center of the village and accessed by a small brick alleyway wedged between two of the more walk-in-friendly shops in the village: Starbucks and BookHampton. (Leases reportedly include an agreement that the stores will be open year round.)
The walkway connects all the stores of East Hampton Square (which will soon be in front of the D.R.B. itself with a new signage request) and has been fully renovated with plantings by Bayview Landscape Architecture (which picked up awards from the Garden Club of America and the Long Island Nursery and Landscape Association for the work). The bricks, greenery, and bistro lights give it an inviting warmth that was previously lacking. The square is fully leased out for the first time since the renovations began well over a year ago.
Next to the gallery is another new retail offering, Farm and Forage, a tiny store owned by Jonathan Bernard. Mr. Bernard got his start selling mushrooms to East Hampton restaurants like the 1770 House and Fresno, before opening a store in Southampton last year.
“The focus of the East Hampton location is cheese. We make mini cheese boards, starting at $15, and other prepared organic and seed-oil-free lunch options for the beach,” Mr. Bernard said by phone this week. “We cook only with olive and avocado oil,” he explained. The shop also sells caviar at a range of price points.
Just outside his store are tables and chairs, shared with his neighbor, Smokey Buns. While Smokey Buns opened last summer, it added breakfast sandwiches to its summer 2025 repertory, said Tora Matsuoka, a co-owner of Tip Top Hospitality, which owns the restaurant.
Amber Waves, which first opened in the square in 2023, has been at a new location just off the Reutershan lot since last summer and is full of its usual healthful fare like their fresh vegetables, green juices, and grab-and-go items, as well as baked goods.
A new Verizon store, and MadHappy, a women’s clothing retailer that touts itself as “clothing for a community of optimists,” round out the new options in East Hampton Square.
Head down an adjacent alley and you’ll pass Kumiso, a ramen restaurant also owned by Mr. Matsuoka’s hospitality group that opened in 2023, but just launched a new menu with house-made dumplings, sushi sandos, and new sakes.
The Kumiso alley runs to Newtown Lane, where teenage boys and collectors of all stripes will be thrilled to visit the new CardVault, Tom Brady’s collectible card store. A grand opening celebration is scheduled for this evening, from 5 to 6:30 at Herrick Park. Mr. Brady may even toss a football or two before cutting the ribbon at the store, located at 47 Newtown Lane.
“Bringing CardVault to East Hampton, a community known for being on the cutting edge of art, culture, and collecting, is an exciting step forward for our brand, collectors, and fans worldwide,” Ed Kane, a co-founder of CardVault by Tom Brady, said in a press release.
While the children browse at Mr. Brady’s store, across the street at 26 Newtown Lane, their parents may shop for a different kind of collectible, in the new, rare, standalone Rolex store, located in the old Oddfellows Hall at 26 Newtown Lane.
If there’s any money left, moving farther away from the village center, but still within its limits, two Manhattan pizza joints will help feed the swarms of summer peeps. Rubirosa Ristorante, is setting up Camp Rubirosa at 31 Race Lane, a short walk from the train station. According to its website, it will feature “its world-famous Tie-Dye pizza” and promises to be “casual and sophisticated at the same time, capturing the timeless memories of a summer in the country.”
Meanwhile, Crazy Pizza, which, to bring it back to Mr. Yarrow’s photograph, also has a location in St. Moritz, will take up residence at 47 Montauk Highway, across from the Red Horse Market, where Kizzy T’s operated last summer.
“I’m happy with any business that wants to come to our downtown,” said Mayor Larsen. “That was always our goal, to make our village full of life, more viable, open later, and walkable.”