There’s a general store hiding inside this Lindenhurst barbershop

Walk into the front of The Holy Black Barbershop in Lindenhurst and you might expect to find a waiting area.

Instead, you’ll find a little bit of everything.

Vintage-inspired clothing sits alongside books, jewelry, pins, keychains, home goods and other small finds. Locally made products are mixed in with pieces that look like they could have come from another era.

And then there’s the embroidery.

Owner Kelsy McLary (pictured above) does it right on site, adding custom designs to everything from clothing and gifts to baby and wedding items.

It’s all part of Lindenhurst General Store, the retail shop McLary opened in May inside her husband’s barbershop at 168 N. Wellwood Ave.

For McLary, the store brings together two things she has spent years doing: working in retail and creating things with her hands.

How it happened

A Sayville native, McLary has worked in retail throughout her career, with experience at small businesses, shopping malls and corporate retailers.

Her husband, meanwhile, has spent much of their relationship working as a barber and is part of the team at The Holy Black.

When the barbershop opened a few years ago, McLary noticed the retail area in the front was only being partially used.

She saw an opportunity.

“I wanted to make it a shop,” McLary said.

Drawing on her retail experience, particularly her background in visual merchandising, she transformed the space into Lindenhurst General Store.

The building dates back to the 1920s and still has its original floors and ceilings, McLary said. Instead of hiding those details, she worked them into the store’s look.

Newer apparel and merchandise are mixed with vintage pieces and mid-century modern-inspired finds, giving the shop an old-school aesthetic without making it feel like a traditional antique store.

McLary, a longtime collector and shopper herself, keeps the inventory constantly changing.

“I always have something new,” she said. “We keep it fresh.”

A customer might walk in looking for a gift and leave with a piece of clothing. Others might find a book, jewelry or something for the home.

The store also carries products from other small businesses, including a local surf brand, along with small food items, sourdough and banana bread.

But one of its most distinctive offerings is McLary’s Stitch Bar.

She has been doing hand embroidery for about a decade, drawing inspiration from old-school Western designs and giving them a more contemporary treatment.

Customers can bring in their own item to personalize or choose something from the store, with McLary creating custom embroidery for apparel, gifts, baby items, wedding pieces and more.

For McLary, it’s a chance to turn something ordinary into something personal — fitting with her larger goal of filling the shop with things customers won’t necessarily find everywhere else.

Although Lindenhurst General Store has only been open since May, McLary said word has spread quickly.

She expects the holiday season to bring even more shoppers through the door, especially with the store’s range of giftable items. But she doesn’t want it to become a place people visit just once.

That’s why the inventory keeps changing.

Part of the fun for McLary is finding something new, putting it on the shelves and seeing who discovers it next.

If you go

Lindenhurst General Store is located inside Holy Black Barber Shop at 168 N. Wellwood Ave. in Lindenhurst.

Customers can stop in to browse the shop or visit McLary’s Stitch Bar for custom embroidery.