By Liz Page
HARPERSFIELD – They are calling it "The Maple Miracle on 34th Street" as Shaver Hill Maple makes its debut at the iconic Macy's department store in New York City.
The pieces of this once in a lifetime marketing opportunity just happened to fall into place, according to Damian Hill. More than 15,000 people per hour are expected to pass by the 8 x 10 foot Shaver Hill Booth on Black Friday alone. The booth is stocked with an abbreviated representation of their wide variety of maple products and special gift packages.
Macy's reached out to the Hill family, local maple producers in the town of Harpersfield, in early summer, asking if they would like to be a part of a marketing opportunity with 36 other vendors in their New York City store. Known as Macy's Holiday Square Market for the holidays, it is located in the store's basement. The market is filled with specialty vendors with the goal of bringing "that outdoor feel inside".
"At first we weren't sure it was legitimate," said Dwayne Hill. "They received the invitation in an email with a reply application. There are so many scams these days."
But it was legitimate and the Hills, Damian, Dwayne and David, barely hesitated to join this once in a lifetime retail opportunity. Macy's plans to make an annual event and they may expand it to other times of the year. Their analysis indicates the market will attract 25 percent more customers, with more than 3.2 million people visiting the store over the 65 days of last year's inaugural event.
The market held a soft opening on Oct. 31 and it will run through Jan. 5..It opened last year with just 11 vendors scattered throughout the department store. Now, there are 37 vendors located in one area for shoppers to stroll through everything from dumplings, to doughnuts, to Christmas decor.
One of the pieces that helped things to fall into place is Hill's friendship with Mark Dolis, of Oneonta. Dolis was a customer of Shaver Hill who began producing maple products to offer as gifts at his B n Bs. He and Damian Hill developed a friendship. While he lives in Oneonta, he still has an apartment in the city and is manning the booth, much to the relief of the Hills, who are still learning the logistics of operating in the Big Apple.
Dolis didn't hesitate to offer to help the Hills with this ambitious endeavor and he is the one who has dubbed it the Maple Miracle. The red checked shirts they are wearing are getting attention as well and they are identified as the "maple lumberjacks".
Dolis has been networking with other vendors at the market and is currently working with Tea & Milk on maple boba tea. "We all have to work together to make it a success," said Hill, collaborating with others to see how the products can be incorporated into new products.
Macy's covers one whole city block, with nine floors of retail space above the basement. "Sales have been steady so far," said Hill. The Macy's team of 10 people who recruited the vendors and are managing the market have been a large part of the farm's exposure this year. Shaver Hill has already been featured in Time's Square and Macy's has been promoting the market on social media as well.
With maple trees indigenous only to the Northeast, the Hills have been told to expect a lot of international customers. Those customers come from places that have no maple trees, have never seen maple syrup nor have any knowledge of its use. So the booth is also educational, pointing out that there is a 40:1 ratio of sap to make syrup and features granulated sugar and other value added products. Dolis is facilitating that and once visitors taste the samples of hard maple drops, they want to try the products, said Hill. Their slogan is “From Our Woods to Your Table.”
Shaver Hill still doesn't know what put them on the Macy team's radar, but they are on the Top 20 World's Best Syrups list. Most of the others are from Canada or Vermont. The only other local mention is Tree Juice in Arkville, which produces flavored syrups. They are a small family operation located in the town of Harpersfield and "nestled in the Catskill mountains". They do appear at local farm markets and fairs, but penetrating the NYC market will give them so much more exposure, said Hill. They have already have some wholesale markets looking to handle their products year around.
The locals know about their maple equipment sales and a wide variety of maple products they sell and how they have expanded and grown over the years.They are excited to learn the Hill’s will bring a little fame to Harpersfield and Delaware County as Damian Hill leads them into new adventures. He said they have a tractor trailer full of products waiting to replenish the booth at Macy’s. Having an overstock is better than running out, although he said it has been nearly impossible to forecast how much product they will need. They took their best guess from product sales and store models based on what other vendors set up last year. Signage throughout the department store points shoppers to the market of specialty vendors located in the basement.
"On any given day, it's unknown who may be walking by our booth," said Hill, who is already planning to double the space for next year and add refrigeration so they can display their perishable creams and other products. An estimated 12 million people from all over the United State and other countries pass through the doors of Macy's each year. The market will be open during Macy store hours and is open with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Hill said there are plans to hold the market at other times of the year and he is willing to sign on. They will be visiting the booth again soon and are thankful to Dolis for helping guide them through the intricacies of operating in the Big Apple.
An NBC film crew will be at the booth Nov. 14 to film Shaver Hill for a promotion that will air on the NBC Nightly News segment on Nov. 23.
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