Fashion show for a good cause. Used Nikes for $1,300 and more.
UPDATED Story: Commissioner Tim Coll releases statement about former commissioner's claims.
Welcome to the Daily Dispatch! The afternoon email from Saratoga Dispatch.
Top: Welcome Hype Gallery, a clothes, shoes and accessories storefront for the hip-hop culture.
Mid: UPDATED story about the latest legal action in the city.
Bottom: Summer Galas! Find out how Brian Bouchey stole the (fashion) show Sunday.
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Dude, buy my stuff
Hype Gallery off the beaten path downtown sells to the hip hop culture.
By: Stephen Thurston
Nikes, hoodies, bongs, a Louis Vuitton rolling suitcase, watches, the occasional iPhone or laptop. If it’s wearable or usable, Santo Marks, 25, and Keegan Reyna, 21, might just have it for you. They’re “two young hustlers,” who like “nice stuff” and want you to have it.
The pair have started Hype Gallery in downtown Saratoga Springs after working online both alone and together selling clothes, sneakers, accessories and glassware for smoking.
They’re selling it out of their storefront on 15 York Street in downtown Saratoga Springs (in the same building that houses Jacob and Anthony’s American Grille) and they want you to buy it — though, it’s likely if you read the Dispatch,
they want your kids or grandkids to buy it.
The name is the vibe.
“It’s hype, it’s what’s popping. It’s what’s going on,” Santo said.
Much of their inventory is used but good or excellent quality and some is new. A pair of used yellow Nikes in the “baller case” will set you back $1,300.
At the same time, Keegan said you can be a kid coming in wanting a pair of Air Jordan sneakers, and they’ll sell you a used $300 pair for $60 if they have them. They like getting nice stuff into people’s hands.
“No one's gonna tell how much you pay for those when you walk around school. They're just gonna think that's a nice pair, you know,” Keegan said.
The idea of buying one person’s clothes and shoes and selling it to another came to Keegan in Saratoga High School where a boy, Andrew, got into a bit of trouble. Keegan had a job and some money in his pocket.
“He needs 300 bucks. He's like, ‘Buy my stuff,’” Keegan said. “He's just trying to sell all this stuff. And it didn't make sense to me.” Keegan said. Andrew was bigger and the sizes didn’t work for Keegan, but Andrew priced it to sell. Keegan figured it was worth $1,200 new and he got it for $300 and sold it for $500 or $600 more than he paid in just two weeks online.
He was hooked.
Fast forward a few years and the friends, Santo went to Shenendehowa High, have opened a brick and mortar store and many square feet of inventory, with a gamer couch and console in a room off to the side.
“It’s a modern day hip-hop kind of store,” Keegan said. It’s a culture and a store.
They still sell a lot online the pair said, and they’re always looking to squeeze a bit more money out of the store — they will deliver nearby, if you pay gas, and they drive to various stores in the area and take their used boxes to ship their stuff to other people, rather than buying new boxes for distribution.
Santo added later that it’s fun to see people — the business partners have no idea who they are or where they are from — coming in and looking at their stuff and buying and selling.
A person selling to them online can double check prices and might haggle longer, but a person who shows up with something to sell is ready to deal, and they don’t have to worry about getting scammed online.
Santo said the storefront is great for that.
“You have Nikes or maybe you have anything you want to sell to us, you just come right in and talk to us or whatever, rather than going back and forth over social media with a stranger,” Santo said.
But then they have to sell it, Santo said. Apparently, some of the good stuff, Keegan just wants to keep for himself.
“I love getting steals off kids,” Keegan said. “It makes my wardrobe better, and I’m paying like dirt cheap on it.”
If you go:
Hype Gallery, 15 York St. Saratoga Springs.
UPDATED. Former Commissioner potentially sues Springs, Commissioner Coll
Commissioner Tim Coll releases statement to "correct the public record." Click below to see the full story and the updates.
Dish Saratoga
Cowboy hats, a fab dumpster dive, and a husband in hiding
But Brian Bouchey stole the (fashion) show at Sunday’s Tribute to Transforming Lives.
By: Abby Tegnelia
Click here for a sharable link or to read the full story.
The 1863 Club’s A Tribute to Transforming Lives fashion show and lunch
has always produced both the razzle dazzle and powerful emotional impact required of Saratoga’s summer gala season — and this past Sunday was no different. From the backstage shenanigans and fabulous fashions worn by the who’s who of Saratoga, the sold-out event definitely dazzled.
But it was Brian Bouchey and his mega-watt smile that stole the show.
“Our hearts are filled with love and gratitude for your generous support and being here today, and the journey to have empowered Brian and thousands of others to live a cherished and dignified life.”
—Barbara Bouchey
Brian has been with Living Resources — one of two nonprofits that the event fundraises for — for more than 20 years and has been a shining star during the Tribute fashion event’s four-year run. His sister, Barbara Bouchey, this year announced that her brother is a year into an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, a disease that progresses rapidly in individuals with Down syndrome. Brian — with the help of a walker — stood by her side, looking dapper in a bowtie, hat and floral print suspenders.
“Brian and I on this day are going to cherish being here with all of you,” Barbara told the crowd. “We're going to cherish walking the fashion runway to strut our stuff…And tomorrow, we will cherish the time that we are able to spend and share together.”
Elizabeth Martin, Living Resources CEO,
filled newbies in on the organization. “For those who don't know us, for more than 50 years, we have been supporting people with disabilities and their life challenges with dignity, independence, and purpose,” she said. “We do that through a whole spectrum of programs [including] residential and employment programs — we’re really, really trying to get people to work…We support people with brain injuries as well, and it's really all about helping people to reach their maximum independence, to find their purpose in life.
“Because every single one of us has a purpose for being here on this earth.”
[Click here for a sharable link or to read the full story.]
Jeff Yule, who called his Building on Love nonprofit “a small, very merry group,”
said, “We help people with their bills when a child is diagnosed with cancer, or a child is born three months premature — a family’s life changes in a day and one of the first referrals they get outside of the hospital setting is Building on Love. We try to get there right away, before they fall behind on their bills.”
“The adventures of Natalie Sillery and her Trunkettes.”
—Building on Love Executive Director Jeff Yule’s affectionate nickname for the fashion show
Meanwhile, backstage…
Times Union photog Joe Potruck talked the show’s producer Beeca Beers into posing on all of the Champagne boxes stacked up in a dumpster. Model Joyce White called the moment her favorite.
Beers was affectionately deemed “the louder one” of the fashion show team behind host Natalie Sillery — owner of Saratoga Trunk — which also included Kate Connell, Rita Cox, and Ryan Mortka.
Some of the group’s most-experienced vets (Sillery’s 28-year-run producing charity fashion shows once raised money for Ronald McDonald House Charities) holding court backstage: Benita Zahn, Eliza DeRocker and Laura Petrovic.
Models had their hats adjusted to shade one eye.
"I have to stretch three times a day for a few days before the show — otherwise, I'll pay for it for a week."
—Becca Beers, who lugs racks and racks of heavy beaded gowns, gorgeous evening dresses and the upcycled RTW by Coutaura to and from backstage every year. After the show, her husband, Brett, was spotted taking a solo break at the Jim Dandy. “Too much fashion?” I asked. He laughed: “Never.”
Keep scrolling for 28 more fabulous looks!
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