ONEIDA, N.Y. — The name of Jennifer Bailey’s new clothing store in Oneida sums up her hopes for the business venture — that every woman who walks into Worthy feels just that: worthy of looking and feeling her best.

“A place where all women can feel welcome,” is how Bailey describes her premium and designer boutique at 767 Lenox Avenue. “I want to empower women to look good and feel good,” she says.

The shop features a variety of clothing, jewelry, shoes, bags, hats, and more. Many items are brand new. Any used items are in excellent condition, Bailey says.

“You’re not going to find anything big box here,” she notes. “Everything I have here is authentic.”

Bailey was inspired to open the store after moving to Oneida last June. She previously operated Back in Motion Massage and Wellness in Sidney in Delaware County but has since rented the spa location out to another therapist.

“I need a change,” Bailey says. “I wanted to be near water.” After moving to Oneida, she enjoyed the lake views, but found herself struggling for a place to shop without having to travel. That’s when the idea for Worthy was born.

When Bailey found an available 1,500-square-foot space to rent from Mike Smith of Smith Flooring and Paint, it was a done deal.

“There was a need in the market, and I’m filling that need,” she says. 

Bailey began to acquire her inventory and worked on setting up the space with furniture and pieces found at estate sales. “I was able to create the environment and atmosphere I saw in my mind’s eye,” she says of the space.

Worthy opened its doors on Feb. 5, and the response has been good so far, Bailey says. “People are excited; they’re intrigued; they’re appreciative.”

To make her designer pieces accessible to all, Bailey has items at a variety of price points. She also carries clothing in sizes 00 to 3X so that everyone can find something that makes them feel great, she adds.

Bailey held a ribbon cutting in February with the Greater Oneida Chamber of Commerce. She has done some print advertising and is active on both Facebook and Instagram to reach current and potential customers.

In the future, Bailey hopes to add special events like a sip and shop night or inviting in retailers for products like jewelry or aromatherapy.

Currently, Bailey is the only employee and isn’t sure if or when she might hire others since her focus is providing a personalized customer-service experience for shoppers.

She hopes to be able to partner with a nonprofit organization serving women in need and provide clothing to the organization to help women elevate themselves.

Worthy is currently open Tuesday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to noon, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.    

UTICA, N.Y. — Running three bars during a global pandemic that, for a time, required her businesses to shut their doors was about the hardest thing Michelle Klosek has done as a business owner.

Knowing that she had to either figure it out or fail, Klosek rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

She watched countless U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) webinars offering advice, applied for and obtained various funding available to businesses, figured out how to sell her pub food to go, poured martinis in pouches when drinks-to-go were approved by the state, and even spent some time working as a contact tracer for the New York State Contact Tracing Initiative so she could pay the bills.

You learn “just how fast you can acclimate because you have to,” Klosek says.

When the bars were allowed to reopen with outdoor seating, she left the contact-tracing job and got back to work at the bars she and her husband Steve operate — The Stiefvater Room (The Stief), The Varick Bar and Grill, and Sickenberger Lane — on Varick Street in Utica.

Last summer after masking and capacity restrictions were lifted, business was brisk, Klosek says. “There wasn’t really anything to do but go out to a bar,” she said. Many of the area’s normal festivals and concerts had yet to return, which steered people toward bars as a social option throughout the summer and fall.

Then the Omicron variant arrived and the state once again implemented an indoor mask mandate. Klosek said she felt it would be hard to ask patrons to mask up once again, so she went a different route instead.

She temporarily closed The Stief instead. “It was really tough,” she recalls. But the closing provided an opportunity to complete a project proposed and designed by two of her employees.

Brendan Boucher and Isabella Fasolo, bartenders at The Stief, pitched a remodeling project to Klosek to give the bar a 1920s feel.

“They ran around for like two weeks,” Klosek says, putting together ideas and acquiring new furnishings and décor to replace the “average pub scene” look.

Away went the old booths and tables and beer signs on the wall. In their place, in came velvet couches, new lights, and a new drink menu.

“They’re very creative,” Klosek says of her employees, and she let them run with it. The project cost about $20,000 and “it’s been well received,” she adds.

The Stief celebrated the remodel with a ribbon cutting on March 3, also noting the 35th anniversary of The Varick at the same time.

Klosek is pleased with the new vibe at The Stief because it appeals to all ages. “It creates more conversation between people,” she says of the new seating.

With a fresh, new look, Klosek is ready for the nicer weather and the crowds it should bring. “I expect it to be normal, busy,” she says.

And if things change regarding the pandemic, Klosek is prepared with the lessons she’s learned and the tools she’s acquired over the past two years.

“It puts you in a better place,” she says of that hard-earned knowledge. Klosek  knows she can now quickly pivot toward to-go drinks and orders but hopes she won’t have to do so.