Paul and Sandy's Too

The History of Paul & Sandy’s Too (East Hampton, CT)

This year marks 45 years in business for Paul’s & Sandy’s Too Garden Center & Hardware Store located at 93 East High Street in East Hampton, CT. In 1954 Paul Peszynski first started selling vegetables at a stand that he and his father converted from an old chicken coop on Rt. 66. At that time his main customers were people from New York City who came and rented cottages or stayed at one of the seven hotels that were on Lake Pocotopaug.

Years later Paul got married to Sandy Flemke and they had four children: Mark, Jill, Daniel, and Karen. Paul & Sandy opened a toy and sporting goods store with a sprinkling of home and garden supplies and named it Paul’s Home Supply, the same property where Paul sold fresh fruits and vegetables during his summers to pay for his college tuition as a young man.
As the years passed, Paul and Sandy found that the demand for toys and sporting goods declined, but the need for home and gardening supplies soared, and the transition to green goods and hardware was natural.

In 1972, Paul & Sandy Peszynski opened a toy and sporting goods store with a sprinkling of home and garden supplies and named it Paul’s Home Supply, the same property that Paul sold fresh fruits & vegetables during his summers to pay for his college tuition as a young man.  The sprawling garden center and hardware store maintains 15 greenhouses filled with plants, but it does not grow any of its own fruits and vegetables. Instead, a broad array of produce is trucked in daily, largely from area farms.

The Business started out selling fresh produce 57 years ago, but switched over to mostly sporting goods when they opened their store in 1970. The nursery and hardware ends of the business eventually eclipsed other merchandise, and with fresh fruit and vegetables for sale from summer through autumn, Paul’s and Sandy’s has come full circle.