'Curious' Celebrates a Year in Syosset

Written by Gabriella Ianiro.

Sisters and owners Marissa and Diana Cotilletta recently celebrated the one-
year anniversary of their store Curious Clothing in Syosset.

“Our 1 year anniversary was very important to us,” said Diana.

“We wanted to celebrate a great year and bring all our customers together as we consider most of them to be family,” added Marissa.

Syosset became home to Curious Clothing because they knew the clientele
from working in the area at previous clothing stores.

“We are from New Hyde Park and travel to Syosset to get our nails done, once we saw there was a opening in the shopping center of the nail salon, we thought it was the perfect place for our clothing store,” said Marissa.

“We feel that everyone is looking for everyday clothes,” said Diana of the selection of contemporary women's junior and adult clothing. Each article of clothing is less than $100.

The Cotilletta sisters have been in retail for years. Both started working at
National Jean Company in high school and together moved on to work at Lester’s where Marissa was manager and Diana was in charge of visuals and sales. Marissa then became manager and buyer of Jimmy's, a clothing store in the Muttontown Shopping Center.

The two had always talked about opening a store and after three years
of researching they finally felt that, as Marissa said, “At that point in our lives was perfect timing because we reached a level of experience and felt confident that we could run a store on our own."

While they were aware of the difficult market when they opened, The Cotillettas said they weren’t worried because they were, “hardworking, honest and loyal people who will always do the right thing by our customers for them to always come back.”

The anniversary event featured a 25% off sale storewide and the sisters had psychic reader Stephanie Rose come to the store.

“We wanted to make this a fun event, something different,” said Marissa.

During their anniversary event, local restaurant Chris and Tony’s catered for
Curious Clothing’s customers. The Cotilettas had known the owners for years, saying their “wife is a good customer of ours, as we are good customers of theirs,” according to Diana.

Another young business, Chris and Tony’s opened in Syosset on September 9, 2012. They offer an American Italian family styled dining experience. The restaurant took over the site of Fulton & Prime and Manero’s.

Owner Chris Fichera said that he chose to open in Syosset for the same
reason as The Cotilettas.

“I knew the clientele in the area and I knew that I had a different dining experience to bring to the area,” said Fichera.

Executive Chef Tony Ambrosio explains that there are so many favorite
dishes that it’s difficult to reduce one dish as the most popular. “If I was forced to choose I would have to say our Country Chicken, a.k.a Chris & Tony’s Chicken is our most popular,” said Ambrosio.

Both Curious Clothing and Chris and Tony’s have settled down into the town
of Syosset making new homes for their growing businesses.