If you live on the Greenville side of town, you’ve doubtless seen Patio.com hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Some random person driving on Central might see it as just a run down showroom for outdoor furniture, and they wouldn’t be wrong. But given how centrally it's located in our community, it’s become a bit of an icon in Edgemont, with some even using it as a landmark when giving directions. There’s also some emotional attachment to it. When you pass by the same building multiple times a day for years it becomes an essential part of town.
...bit of an icon in Edgemont...
Because of all of these reasons, many were upset when they learned that Patio.com was temporarily closing. Some feared that the Edgemont treasure was gone for good, especially because they were never particularly busy in the first place (although, to be fair, that location is a showroom for the online business, not a typical store). Some have even started to scope the area out. In December some men were there to see if it’d be a good spot for a French bakery. Ever since it closed, the already not particularly pretty building has started to fall apart: the “C” in the sign has fallen out, revealing loose wiring, and ever since the tropical storm a few months back nearly all the furniture inside has been flipped over. Right across the street stands a premonition of what Patio.com could become, an ex-cell phone store that’s been “for rent” for years, its once blue roof bleached a dull gray.
Luckily that’s not going to happen; our Patio.com’s temporary closure is, in fact, temporary, the result of staffing and supply chain issues from the pandemic. For every store that Patio.com opens, they have to close one, and, in this case, they had to close ours. However, unlike other businesses on Central, the pandemic hasn’t killed Patio.com but strengthened it. It turns out that with everyone stuck at home patio furniture has exploded in popularity. The only issue is getting the manpower to stock and sell it. Store manager Richard Deblasio said that “Demand for the product is up three fold”. In fact when Patio.com comes back it’ll be “much better than it ever was”, as it’s going to be remodeled. Once completed “it’ll look more like the Patio.com of Greenwich”, and, although the current building has its charm, the Greenwich location (pictured below) looks better by a comfortable margin.
Patio.com, https://www.patio.com/.