Bop to Tottom
299 Wall St.
Uptown Kingston
845-338-8100
Open 10-5:30 Monday-Saturday
Karen Adin opened this funkadelic, reasonably priced gift store 10 years ago in uptown Kingston. The hip selection of flap hats, fashion accessories, scarves, jewelry, candles, picture frames, novelties and notions, and kids’ toys has attracted a loyal base of customers, some of whom are weekenders from the city. Karen travels to the city once a week, visiting different stores and wholesale vendors to see what is popular and trendy. “I stock the latest and the greatest, and we do not mark items up here as much as other retailers do,” she says. “Keeping it affordable is key.” Two part-time employees, Mary Ellen and Jeanne Lange, who are sisters-in-law, help Karen out, and she is a strong community supporter. “We donate to almost any request, provided it’s local,” says Karen, who moved to the area from Boston 26 years ago. Karen likes the diversity of living and doing business in the city. “I chose uptown Kingston because it could be a beautiful neighborhood,” she says.
I bet you didn’t know
1. Jimi Hendrix shopped here when the space was a music store. George Kennedy shot pool in the pool hall that used to occupy the top floor of the building.
2. The building is on the National Registrar of Historic Places.
3. Customers come from as far away as Albany and Westchester.
4. Bob to Tottom is located at the crossroads of Uptown Kingston.
5. Among the numerous actors and actresses who’ve visited over the years are Melissa Leo and John Hurd.
6. Karen has been in the wholesale retail industry for 26 years.
7. The store have so many brochures and maps “we’re known as the information center of Kingston.”
8. People ask us everything from where to eat lunch to a recommendation for an attorney.
9. Much of the jewelry, hats, and artwork sold in the store are made locally.
10. Nobody gets the name right and nobody forgets it.
