Letters

What has it come to when we can’t greet customers about to enter our doors with a stuffed animal with a small sign with “Welcome!” on it [“Stuffed Animals Fetch Citations For Shopkeeper In East Hampton Village,” 27east.com, November 11]?

My business, Petit Blue, a gift shop filled with children’s toys, dolls, stuffed animals and other items to delight children of all ages, has been cited by East Hampton Village Code Enforcement for supposedly violating the village’s laws against outdoor signs and outdoor displays of merchandise.

Meanwhile, just a stone’s throw away, the supermarket has seasonal evergreens and wreaths with price signs on the sidewalk. And just a few doors down Newtown Lane, the garden shop has an extensive display of seasonal plants, pumpkins, etc.

To get to Petit Blue’s front door, you have to go up three steps onto a small roofed porch area. The stuffed animals and the “Welcome!” sign face customers who are already on the stairs or porch. I put them there when we are open; they come inside when we are closed. The goal is to create a warm, inviting atmosphere — something you can’t experience when you order online.

If it’s okay to put seasonal greenery with price tags outside the supermarket — and it should be — and it’s okay for a garden shop to display plants and garden items for sale outdoors — and it should be — then why is the village prosecuting my business for two stuffed animals that are actually under the roof of my store?

Maybe it’s because I’ve been vocal in my support for a change in attitude in this village that will allow local shopkeepers like myself to make a living here.

Do village taxpayers really want to see their resources spent on a criminal prosecution for having a stuffed animal with a “Welcome!” sign around its neck at my store’s entryway?

Colleen Moeller

Owner

Petit Blue

East Hampton Village