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saratoga living
Back On Track
saratoga living
Back On
Track
You can see it on the smiling faces on Broadway, in the already-out-ofcontrol downtown traffic, and in the hundreds of people that descend upon Caroline Street on Saturday nights: After a year-long-plus pandemic, Saratoga Springs is back on track. This doesn’t just mean that vaccinated folks don’t have to wear a mask anymore, and that Saratoga Race Course will reopen at 100 percent capacity. No. Each and every one of Saratoga’s small business owners is breathing a sigh of relief that the pandemic is over, the people are out and about and Saratoga is finally—finally—getting back to normal. The owners of the businesses listed in the pages that follow have all been patiently waiting for this day, when they can officially announce that their company weathered the pandemic and is all the stronger because of it. These companies—boutiques, designers, salons and more—are open and ready for customers, just in time for Saratoga’s most wonderful time of the year: track season.
Lifestyles owner Heidi Owen West at her trackside mobile boutique.
T
Style Front-Runner
WHEN IT COMES TO TRACK FASHION, LIFESTYLES’ TRACK POP-UP SHOP IS A SURE BET.
he Lifestyles’ vintage 1964 Shasta camper-turnedpop-up-shop is celebrating its fifth year in partnership with the New York Racing Association (NYRA) with the announcement of a new location: Artists Row just inside the main gate next to the Saratoga Walk of Fame. The Shasta will be at the track for all 40 days of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet selling hats for men and women, wraps, fascinators, clutches and more. Although this is the pop-up’s fifth year trackside, owner Heidi Owen West believes it’s even more important than ever to collaborate as a community this year. “Highlighting our local businesses and creating a space for our brand trackside shows NYRA’s commitment to our local business owners,” she says. “After 2020, this relationship seems more important than ever before.” Growing up in Saratoga Springs, Owen West knows as well as anybody how big a part of the city the track is. “It brings excitement to so many people in town,” she says. “I remember going to the track as a teenager each summer with a group of friends. It was exciting! We would get autographs from jockeys, watch the horses in the paddock area, eat hot dogs and pretzels and people-watch—maybe place a dollar bet on a horse with a fun name to win, place or show. The energy was palpable.” The Lifestyles pop-up shop was created by Owen West to give back to the community she loves. “As a small business
owner, I was constantly asked to donate to local charities,” she says. “I wanted to be able to do more for my community and came up with a business plan to give a percentage of all proceeds from the pop-up shop to not-for-profits in need, sometimes even 100 percent of profits. We do that each year for Shelters of Saratoga, have partnered with the Double H Ranch and Wellspring, and each year at the track we give a percentage of sales to B.E.S.T, the Backstretch Employee Service Team. So for me, the pop-up shop and its location at the track is meaningful in a significant way.” As for track style tips, the fashionista and racing superfan puts comfort first, to ensure maximized fun. “My biggest tip for dressing up at the track is to ditch the heels!” she says, noting that her pop-up’s best-seller is flip-flops for women who can’t handle their stilettos after showing up in too high of a heel. “The ground is uneven, and you’re up and down stairs, on cement and grass. A nice wedge or flat is the key for a day at the track, paired with a breezy linen midi-dress or a floral day dress, and of course, topped off with a hat!” ■
