Each time pop culture embraces a new movie, TV show, novel series, or game in the fantasy category, new customers enter Dragon Realm Collectibles at 81 Main Street in New Paltz with the thought that the store is new, that it’s a local “Stranger Things” store or a new “Game of Thrones” store, but the customers always happily discover that they’ve entered a space that is about so much more than the latest fantasy craze, Dragon Realm co-owner Maia Morlock told Yokel this month.
Dragon Realm doesn’t chase after the latest cultural trends, however; it brings a unique New Paltz perspective on what a casual observer might call goth or alternative. In conversation, Maia, Yokel, and Dragon Realm’s co-founder Dan Chisena joked together that the atmosphere in their shop may be “hippy-goth” or “goth-hippy,” with no decision on which order. For the growing population of those who think that the one thing that might improve Halloween would be for it to be celebrated 365 days a year, Dragon Realm is the perfect shop.
T-shirts, jackets, coffee/tea mugs, tumblers, clothing, collectibles, stickers, games, CDs, and jewelry line the walls and populate the tables in the well-lighted black-and-brightly-colored decor inside, along with skulls, snakes, dragons. Many of the products are fair trade, and many works are produced by small businesses. Some of the dragons are beautiful, jeweled centerpieces, and some are plush toys, which reminds one that home decor should always emphasize “home” and the family one may hold close there. Indeed, Dragon Realm is a family affair, as Dan and Maia have a young son, Roman, who models many of the infant clothes on offer.
Once upon a time, the space that is Dragon Realm’s home was the home to an alternative spiritual bookshop, Esoterica, so a certain alternative lineage seems at work here.
Dan Chisena opened a precursor to Dragon Realm in the Water Street Market in 2004, then moved his retail enterprise in 2008 to Church Street and a store he called Crazy Dan’s Secondhand Hardcore & More. He booked local concerts, sold fantasy memorabilia and games, toys, vintage comic books. Then, in 2015, he and his younger brother Anthony re-established the Dragon Realm name in the current location on Main Street. Their mother, Isabella Chisena, is the proprietor of the beloved Isabella’s Treasures on North Front Street. Brother Anthony has opened his own shop above Isabella’s Treasures, PopCulture Collectibles, to feature his personal passion for vintage toys, games, comic books, and figures.
Dragon Realm is a gift shop with its a uniquely vibrant and playful aesthetic. There is something for everyone, if that everyone has ever liked anything from Edward Gorey books to heavy metal to D&D to “Game of Thrones,” in other words, most of us. Many people are happy to be called nerds, and Dan and Maia embrace that culture.
Like many business owners in the Hudson Valley, Dan and Maia have a passion and fill their store with that passion. Passion can bring success, and Dragon Realm is a success, one of New Paltz’s long-running establishments, one of the businesses that makes New Paltz unique.
For the alternative fan who missed the most recent comic con—your correspondent felt a few weekends ago that if he needed to contact any one of about twenty local friends, he could do no worse than to simply call the Javits Center, so there are many comic con attendees here—Dragon Realm is a place to stay close to that fellowship, locally.
During our noontime midweek chat with Dan, Maia, and Roman, several groups of patrons came into Dragon Realm. One group had not been in the shop before. More than once we heard a customer say, “You have this!” about a product they saw. One of the most rewarding experiences in retail is to hear a customer ask or declare that very sentence during a visit.
The owners of Dragon Realm get to hear it more than once a day, and not just during Halloween season.
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Mark’s website: http://thegadabouttown.com/