SCOTT FRIEDMAN Necessities for the Heart owner Georgette Keenan rolls dice during the Kentucky Derby event her store hosted for customers in celebration of 12 years of doing business in downtown Allentown on May 2. ALLENTOWN — One downtown shop married trend with tradition for 12 successful years of business.
Necessities for the Heart, located at 28 South Main Street in downtown Allentown, showcases popular accessory and apparel lines throughout the first-floor rooms of a historic home, the John Imlay House built in 1790. In the boutique, shoppers can seek new treasures from the Brighton, Vera Bradley and Troll Beads collections while admiring classic fireplaces and hand-tooled woodwork, including a staircase with mahogany balustrades and scroll-saw ornaments that took a master carpenter six months to construct.
Shop owner Georgette Keenan, of the Clarksburg section of Millstone, and her staff take pride working in the historic structure and offer interested customers stories of the home’s rich history. Known as “the mansion” throughout New Jersey, the Imlay House is one of the finest Georgian homes in the state. Imlay, a Revolutionary War-era merchant built the home and resided there until his death in 1880. In the 1930s, the home became Dr. Walter Farmer’s hospital.
“Customers come in and tell me that they came here to have their tonsils out,” Keenan said. “It’s definitely a landmark and is inspirational because of that.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently acquired hand-painted wallpaper from the home dating 1794 for installation into its American Wing’s Haverhill Room.
Conscious of the structure’s history but having her own flair for design, Keenan tries to keep the rooms’ offerings in line with their former use but adds touches of the modern like a leopard print rug or a hand-painted mural.
In the back room that once served as the dining area where the female cook reigned, Keenan has placed her displays of missy-fit apparel. In the sitting room where Imlay entertained his friends and family, she has put the Brighton line.
“I chose to put Brighton in there because I feel it is a brand for a lot of different lifestyles,” she said.
Brighton, which has its headquarters in California, makes leather handbags and wallets, jewelry, sunglasses and home gifts. The company is very selective about who they allow to sell their merchandise and Keenan had to apply for the line.
“It’s a real honor for us,” Keenan said. “I love the quality and the workmanship of Brighton. They have a team of designers who travel all over the world for inspiration.”
The shop owner particularly enjoys Brighton’s “dynamite handbags” and helps customers celebrate their purchases by displaying photographs of patrons with their new bags on a special wall.
The front room that once served as Farmer’s office now holds the Vera Bradley line.
“It’s a wow to customers when they walk in,” she said, adding that her younger patrons enjoy taking photographs of themselves amidst the displays.
“The color and patterns are a big draw,” Keenan said. “Vera Bradley is a phenomena. When have you ever heard of a teenager not minding wearing the same thing that their mother or grandmother are wearing.”
Keenan’s boutique didn’t always occupy the entire first floor of the home. When she opened shop 12 years ago, she sold tea sets in the sitting room while other vendors leased and sold other items in the other rooms. As all of the other businesses closed for one reason or another, Keenan had the good fortune of being able to expand her merchandise selection and to lease the other spaces in the home.
“Thinking back 12 years ago to opening that little door, I remember asking my husband’s aunt to say a little prayer for me,” Keenan said. “I always remember how she said, ‘May they be wildly successful.’”
While many shops in downtown Allentown have come and gone over the years, Necessities of the Heart, which is also known as Wisteria, has not only been able to remain but to expand with two other stores in Bordentown and Point Pleasant.
“It hurts me to see the old mill vacant,” she said. “And, our neighbors just went out of business, but we’re healthy. I put out an email to our customers every month and the last one I just sent said the state of our union is good.”
Keenan noted that she may even open a fourth store, but is still contemplating the venture. Her strategy for success, she said, has been knowing what customers want, hiring a staff that treats the stores like they would their own endeavors, having support from local women since day one, and having a husband, Kevin, and two children, K.C. and Caitlin, that cared enough about her passion to maintain the family’s homestead while she works.
“My family has taken care of a lot for themselves,” she said.M
arianne Newman, of Jackson, who has worked at the shop for five years, said Necessities for the Heart can celebrate 12 years of business because Keenan goes above and beyond for her customers.
“What other storeowner knows about Oreo cookie day and puts out cookies, milk and coffee for customers?” Newman asked.
The store also offers gift wrap with every purchase and wish lists.
“We do little wish lists for wives,” she said. “The husbands call us up and we get the items on the list ready. They’re out of trouble and their wives get what they want.”
Keenan also regularly hosts shopping parties with various themes for her customers, many of which she calls friends. The store’s 12th anniversary party on May 2 had a Kentucky Derby theme. Customers wore their favorite derbies, played horseracing games, won prizes and enjoyed each other’s company.
“We want customers to enjoy their experience shopping with us,” Keenan said. “We couldn’t be us without them.”
For more information about Necessities for the Heart, visit www.necessititesfortheheart.com or call 609-208-1349.