Baldwinsville boutique Stacy Kate is looking a little different these days. The chic candles, hand-painted wine glasses and artisan soaps are out; lagenlook is in.
With the help of refugees from Catholic Charities, Andres is preparing to unveil her own in-house line of clothing, in the German “layered look” style of flowy, natural-fiber fashion.
The designs aren’t the only newcomers to Stacy Kate: Andres is also welcoming massage therapist Cindy McCaffrey to her shop. Together, the two women hope to keep the tradition of women-owned businesses in Baldwinsville strong.
“I love the idea of women helping women. I think it’s important,” McCaffrey said. “Most of my client base is women.”
After she lost her husband, McCaffrey found herself in need of some support and direction. She returned to Baldwinsville, where she had once lived, and Andres took her customer-turned-friend under her wing.
“We all in the village work so closely together — we tag-team off each other,” Andres said, referring to other women-owned businesses in the village such as Two Twisted Sisters and The Savvy Chick.
Andres isn’t just about teaming up with other businesswomen. Her design house’s employees are refugees from Somalia, Iraq and Nicaragua. Soon, she’ll have work available for veterans as well.
“They came here with absolutely nothing, [but] they have these amazing skills,” Andres said of her employees, some of whom had to learn to adapt their industrial garment-making skills to home-sized sewing machines.
Andres said people in Baldwinsville have been donating sewing machines, ironing boards and other supplies for the effort.
While the main focus of Stacy Kate is clothing and scarves for now, Andres hopes to venture into the world of handbags eventually. She’s in talks with boutiques in California, the Southwest and the South to wholesale her designs.
Seeing the design house come alive and learning the stories of the new Americans who work on the clothing have put some things into perspective for McCaffrey.
“The people that relocated have lost homes, family and friends — I’ve lost one person,” McCaffrey said.
A Reiki master as well as a massage therapist, McCaffrey used to work with cancer patients. Now, at Stacy Kate, she’ll continue her mission of healing others and herself.
“It’s a challenging experience to go through,” she said of her husband’s death, “but I believe that sharing what I’ve learned with others will make the process easier to go through.”
McCaffrey said of Andres’ compassion and generosity, “When she finds a need, she builds a bridge.”
Andres’ designs won’t be available in store until the end of March, but the boutique is open now at 6 Mechanic St. in Baldwinsville.
