Setting up shop on Liberty Street

Oliver & Chatfield relocates from Cornwall

By KATELYN CORDERO
Posted 3/20/19

Another new business has opened its doors at 42 Liberty Street. Oliver & Chatfield made the move from Cornwall on the Hudson to Newburgh on February 20. Susan Knapik, owner of Oliver & …

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Setting up shop on Liberty Street

Oliver & Chatfield relocates from Cornwall

Posted

Another new business has opened its doors at 42 Liberty Street. Oliver & Chatfield made the move from Cornwall on the Hudson to Newburgh on February 20. Susan Knapik, owner of Oliver & Chatfield, is an interior designer by trade looking for a space to start her business.

“I am an interior designer by trade and I was looking for ways to incorporate the things I’ve learned and knowledge I’ve learned, but I didn’t want to go the traditional route,” said Knapik. “I’m aware of the environmental impact so I thought it would be a great way to bring my everyday earth friendly products to people in a more accessible way.”

Knapik found a space in Cornwall as her starter space, but she always had her eye on opening her store on Liberty Street in Newburgh. When she heard the space on 42 Liberty Street was available she made the move.


“Liberty Street was always on my radar when I heard of another space that was bought and being renovated i jumped on it,” said Knapik.

Knapik was in the Army before becoming an interior designer. She originally went to college to study English then went into the army as an Engineer. As an engineer in the army she learned about materials and the tools she neededfor interior design.

After leaving the Army she was able to go back to school through the GI Bill which provides educational assistance for service members, veterans and their dependents. Her second degree was interior design.

“Interior design was always a passion of mine, even when I was a young person and had my own room I was always looking to make my own home,” said Knapik. I was fascinated with the idea of a home. Home has always been an interesting idea for me to personalize to make a space your own. Some of the earliest memories I had was creating my own space.”

Knapik ended up moving to the Hudson Valley with her husband when he got a position at West Point, so she decided to open up her own place and pursue her dream.

“It kind of happened pretty quickly, the stars sort of aligned at once,” said Knapik. “I was browsing through old Facebook and and saw one for a general story for the early 1900s in Cornwall on the Hudson and it was called Oliver & Chatfield,” said Knapik. “I thought it would be unique to use the name of a business that used to exist back in the day, and I based the idea of the shop around the modern day general store. I found the space and turned it into my own little shop.”

The products sold in the store include many handmade items from independent artists and a few things crafted by Knapik’s husband.

“There’s a huge emphasis and everything being made by one person, it’s a small manufacturing line. For the most part everything has been picked meticulously,” said Knapik.

Since opening her shop in Newburgh Knapik has seen an overwhelming response to the business. She plans to have a first birthday party for the business on May 5.