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07/17/2024 08:30 AMSidewalks are for hopscotch grids, tic-tac-toe diagrams, and pictures drawn with brightly colored chalk. However, for those who are beyond their hopscotch and sidewalk art days, sidewalks can not only be for safe strolling, but also for satisfying shopping.
That’s what will be happening in Essex on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28—a sidewalk sale sponsored by the Essex Board of Trade. Susan Lexa-Senning is the retail manager of The RiverLane—the women’s clothing store on Main Street in Essex—and she is setting up the store’s outdoor space for the upcoming sidewalk sale. Technically, in the case of The RiverLane, the sale is not on the sidewalk, but in the store’s adjacent parking lot.
The Essex Board of Trade also sponsors Daffodil Days in the spring and decorates downtown with greenery for the winter holiday season. Membership includes businesses, non-profits, and professionals like lawyers and doctors in Essex, Ivoryton, and Centerbrook. The group meets on the third Friday of every month at 9 a.m. at the Essex Corinthian Yacht Club.
The RiverLane has occupied its present space for two years. Prior to that time, the building housed Liberty Bank. The store’s owner, Robin Zubretsky, is about to open a second location in Mystic near the beginning of August.
“I will run it for the summer months and, after that, we’ll figure it out,” Susan says of the Mystic shop.
Susan, who grew up in Rocky Hill, did not start out in retail. A graduate of Paier College, she was a commercial artist for some 30 years.
Susan did the art work for children’s books, text books, advertisements, “whatever the agent got for me,” she says.
According to Susan, the work could be stressful.
“Deadlines,” she explains.
However, when her two children grew up and left for college, Susan found, as has many a parent, that her house was too empty.
“As an artist, I was home all day and, once the children were gone, I missed the mom thing,” she says.
Now, Susan’s two sons, Hunter and Skylar, are 26 and 30, respectively.
Facing an empty nest, Susan took a part-time job at a women’s apparel store in Old Saybrook where she was sure to come into contact with people. To her initial surprise, she thrived on it.
Susan also worked as manager at J. McLaughlin—a neighboring clothing store on Essex Main Street—before taking her current position at The RiverLane.
The RiverLane is a women’s clothing store, but shoppers often come accompanied by male companions. There is not only a couch for them to relax on, but the staff will serve a glass of wine “or even a beer if someone wants it,” Susan says. On Thursday afternoons, there is wine for all customers.
One of Susan’s delights in retail is when she helps someone with a special ensemble for an important event, and then that person returns to glow about how good she felt and how successful the outfit was.
Susan’s goal is to help every customer find their own personal style, and she advises them not to worry about the eternally vexing question of what the number on the size tag is.
“Every manufacturer does their own sizes,” she says.
Susan says that most of the customers are local on weekdays, but the mix changes on weekends with far more out-of-town shoppers coming to the store.
Susan has lived in Essex for 34 years, but during the summer, she and her husband, Essex attorney John Senning, live in the Stonington house she bought herself before they were married.
Susan purchased the home in 1984 because she is an avid sailor.
“I wanted to be close to my first sailboat,” she explains.
In fact, Susan met John through sailing at a frostbite race in Essex, and sailing has continued to be an important part of their lives. They owned a 48-foot-long John Alden schooner, built in 1934, for 24 years, cruising New England with their sons from the time that Hunter and Skylar were born. Recently, they purchased a Catalina 34 sailboat which they named Sand Dollar.
Susan doesn’t just simply sail the boat. She also does the maintenance and repair work—and not just the easy jobs.
“I paint, wax, do plumbing, even batteries and solar panels,” she says.
Susan’s father was a carpenter and made sure that she had the skills to do her own work.
“Every Christmas, he gave me a new power tool,” she says.
Susan adds that instead of a traditional hope chest, she had a tool chest when she got married.
In addition to sailing, Susan loves skiing and riding.
“I always wanted to own a horse,” she says.
Susan’s current mount, Black Jack, is stabled in Waterford in what she describes as retirement. It is, however, a limited retirement because she still rides him.
Susan will not be riding or sailing during the last weekend of July. She will be overseeing The RiverLane’s tent at the upcoming sidewalk sale. Susan uses a time-honored phrase, one which is familiar to all determined bargain hunters, to describe the available deals at the event.
“There will be deep discounts,” she says