TOWN OF DEWITT – An Ethan Allen design studio and a Crumbl Cookies bakery opened last week along Erie Boulevard East in DeWitt. The new additions to Marshalls Plaza are situated side by side right next to the eyewear store LensCrafters.
Ethan Allen
With the area’s newest Ethan Allen location, owner Jared Roth carries on his family’s long-established commitment to the national furniture company.
In 1965, his grandfather Robert opened a store in Camillus with his brother, Berkeley, nicknamed “Bud.”
By the end of that decade, the pair of dealers would lead the way in building the store on Dewey Avenue in DeWitt, but that one later changed hands to Ethan Allen corporate, a separate independent owner, and back to corporate before it ultimately closed in May of last year.
The Roths went on to expand to the Rochester metropolitan area in 1972 and eventually plant their central operations there, having ceased ownership in Syracuse from the 1990s until recently.
“We’re basically returning to our home roots,” said Jared Roth, who became a third-generation owner in 2011. “We’re really excited.”
He said the 2,500-square-foot Marshalls Plaza space is not so much a retail furniture store as a design studio, calling it a “flagship” for the latter type of layout.
With select chairs, tables, area rugs and a range of light fixtures for show along with thousands of fabrics to choose from, the location at 3405 Erie Blvd. E., Suite 300 functions as a concierge service reliant on three full-time interior designers.
The studio handles reupholstery, custom drapery and other aspects of household decor. While emailing back and forth with clients and even meeting them at their homes, the designers make use of a three-dimensional floor planning tool to mimic the look of a finished room.
“It’s basically a private designer’s office but blown up to a very large, true design studio with highly credentialed, talented and experienced designers,” Roth said.
He said he thanks his relatives, the other employees and contractor Clark Construction North America LLC for transforming the vacant Benderson Development site and putting in utilities and a proper security system.
“We have a really strong team,” Roth said. “I certainly wasn’t able to do this project by myself.”
He said that the studio’s opening to the public on Nov. 30 also fulfilled a recommendation made a dozen years ago by his late grandfather, Robert, who had suggested another location be brought to Syracuse—a notion seconded by Farooq Kathwari, the CEO of Ethan Allen.
“It took 12 years, but we’ve finally done it,” Roth said that afternoon.
Roth’s father, Gary, grew up in Manlius and has been a partner since 1987. Gary mainly takes care of “higher-level” accounting now, while his wife, Karen, lends her experience as an attorney to help with contracts and other legal work according to son Jared.
The Ethan Allen in Marshalls Plaza will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays, and by appointment.
A grand opening event is taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8. Company executives as well as staff members from both the showroom and distribution center in Victor will be in attendance for the event, which will feature chef-prepared refreshments.
Founded in 1932, the company was named after Revolutionary War soldier and founder of the state of Vermont Ethan Allen. The chain runs about 300 locations around the world.
For more information, find the page about the DeWitt design center through the store locator on ethanallen.com
Crumbl Cookies
For lovers of baked goods, the new Crumbl Cookies in DeWitt is hitting the spot—the sweet spot, that is.
Located at 3405 Erie Blvd. E., Suite 200, the franchise in Marshalls Plaza is owned by Jigar Gandhi, his cousin Saumil Dalal and their family friend Disha Patel.
Together the three had previously opened a Crumbl location in Henrietta after stopping by one of the company’s bakeries in Ohio and developing an appreciation for both the business’ concept and the cookies themselves.
By that point, their collective food service experience was mostly in running sub sandwich shops, Gandhi said.
Now that the trio has gotten the hang of overseeing a bakery, they feel more prepared going into the operation of a second location, Gandhi said, adding that they hope to introduce additional Crumbl stores to the Syracuse market.
He said Marshalls Plaza is “very visible” and that the close proximity to the local universities is an advantage since the business appeals to college crowds.
Described in the company’s advertising as “gourmet” desserts, the cookies are hand-crafted from scratch, mixed and baked in front of the customers, given a final finish at the dressing station, and packaged in pink boxes.
The opening was celebrated the morning of Dec. 1 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that welcomed in town officials and other members of the local community. That day the six flavors on the menu, which rotates weekly, were gingerbread cake, lemon crinkle, green mint, Boston cream pie, classic pink sugar and the staple milk chocolate chip.
Other specialty flavors include caramel popcorn and buttermilk pancake. The new flavors are announced Sundays at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on Crumbl’s social media accounts.
Customers can self-order in line or personalize their assortment of cookies at the counter inside the DeWitt store. The business also offers delivery, curbside pickup, catering and nationwide shipping options via the downloadable Crumbl app and online at crumblcookies.com.
Gandhi said he enjoys the “smiles and excitement” on people’s faces when their order is called and they bite into one of the cookies.
“We put so much effort into creating each and every masterpiece of cookie,” he said. “It’s very labor-intensive, but that’s what stands us apart. It’s not the regular cookie that you would get from your grocery store.”
Crumbl Cookies was founded in Logan, Utah, in 2017 by cousins Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley. In the five years since, the company has opened more than 500 locations across 40 states.
The DeWitt bakery is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. It will be closed on Sundays.