some history

original williamsburg store located on bedford avenue
carrie behind fence + friend joan c1997

beacon’s closet owner and founder, carrie peterson, moved from tucson to williamsburg in 1996.

carrie arrived on the heels of her brother and his group of friends who had been living on metropolitan avenue, in a warehouse turned apt. that was wedged between a gas station (now a bank) and the golden dragon chinese restaurant. carrie took up digs with him until finding a place to settle, ultimately in a storage room in the back of the original location of beacon's at 110 bedford.

after a brief period of temping and working uninspiring office jobs in the city, carrie ultimately maxed out her credit cards and rented the original store location on bedford + n. 11th, which had remained vacant for some time before the store moved in. though difficult to imagine now, in 1997 this location was considered by some as a bit far down the stretch, and a questionable spot for foot traffic.

there were a few local businesses and hang out spots at the time: teddy's, sweetwater, mugs, the charleston, the right bank, rubulad, up and coming mighty robot (now secret project robot). for shopping, there was max and roebling, earwax, ugly luggage, sid's junk shop, main drag music, and of course, domsey's. popular restaurants were oznot's dish, the s & b, veracruz, kasia's, kellogg's, and lest we forget, the L cafe.

as for beacon's, initial inventory came from her own personal stock, closets of friends, and thrifting.

carrie originally lived in the back of the store while getting it off the ground. she lived in a room off the then garage, which later became a mini record shop, within the original location. dear friends from what would later be mighty robot and then secret project robot, were instrumental in helping cut the wood for counters, build the dressing rooms and assist with lighting.

shortly thereafter, carrie's friend sam fogarino moved to brooklyn and became the store's second employee, and subsequent partner, for a brief period. from his own well curated record collection, he developed a modest record store in the same room where carrie had lived. beacon's continued to carry music in williamsburg for about 10 years.

sam's most appreciated contribution to the store, however, was introducing carrie to his then wife, cindy wheeler, then front woman of the band pee shy, and former L cafe manager. cindy, who took the reigns as a store manager in 1999, came on board as a partner in 2001. sam ultimately left for a full time gig as drummer for interpol, and cindy held strong and built her partnership with a share in 3 out of the 4 beacon's locations.

as williamsburg grew exponentially, so did the shop, the inventory, and those dang rents.

eventually this store branched off into 4 separate locations, the original beast holding down the fort nearby, at 74 guernsey in greenpoint, and other locations in park slope, manhattan, and bushwick.

both beth moon-burgess and lily ciccarone were managers for many years at the second williamsburg location, and ultimately earned partnerships with carrie and cindy in the manhattan and bushwick stores respectively.