Working 30 years as a personal assistant, Newmarket resident Stefanie Woodward has seen plenty of waste.
Cleaning people’s homes and seeing all the trash made her want to do something with it and help make more sustainable options.
“Refurbishing things that I find and gather and just making stuff out of it, I really enjoy that,” she said, adding that there is “just so much waste around the world.”
Woodward hopes to reduce that with a new business launching from her Main Street home, Frank Sulkers Made For You. The online order business will seek to provide custom-order, personalized items using refurbished and repurposed materials, including shirts, accessories, journals and costumes.
Having the items custom ordered should hopefully have people wanting to keep them for longer, Woodward said.
“I want people to keep things, like how things were passed down in the day,” said the single mother who turning around a new career with the business.
The business is named after her teenage son, Frank Sulkers, who said he is happy to have a namesake.
“I love it. It’s actually quite nice,” he said of the business.
The business is launching by bringing a rave to the community April 22 at Main Street's Grey Goat Pub and Grill. She said it is meant to replace youth dances that happened at the Newmarket Optimist Club building before the pandemic, but have since moved on.
“My son is 14 now, and he just needs to be more social,” she said. “This is the one thing I know that can get him out.
“Family and younger kids can come and just get out and have a good time and dance,” she added. “Get together. I think that’s what we’re all missing, including me.”
The family rave is from noon to 2 p.m., and the youth rave, for ages 10 to 16, is from 2 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 if purchased by April 14, and then $20.
Woodward hopes to sell her wares at the dance, absent any other physical store location. If the dance proves successful, she said she would like to continue holding them regularly.
The business has not got much early attention, she said, but she hopes people can see the value in what she created.
“I’m working as hard as I can,” she said. “I’ve got my heart into this, and I’ve got great intentions.”
The business and tickets for the April 22 rave event are available through its website.
