Now, a New Place for Sam

The “Sam” in Sam’s Beverage Place is Sam Iden

July 19, 2017

By Christopher Walsh, The East Hampton Star

As of its soft opening on July 10, East Hampton has a new purveyor of beer, soda, juices, mixers, and other goods. Sam’s Beverage Place, at 29 Race Lane, is the bright and inviting retailer that now occupies the former Pritam and Eames furniture store.

The “Sam” in Sam’s Beverage Place is Sam Iden, who is 23 and formerly worked at Peconic Beverage East in East Hampton (now Hampton Beverage). On Tuesday, he was at work with Thomas Burke, his assistant, and Kurt Moller, the store’s assistant manager.

Also on hand was Sam’s father, Mitchell Iden. A partner at Graubard Miller, a Manhattan law firm, Mr. Iden travels between New York and East Hampton. Heidi Iden, Sam’s mother, is a former violinist with the New York City Opera who also performed in Broadway shows and on a number of soundtrack recordings. She and Sam are full-time residents of East Hampton.

The store, said Mr. Iden, “is our desire to make a place in the world for Sam,” who is autistic. “The concept is, this is a place Sam can go as many days per week as we think appropriate. People in the community know him, so they know he may need a few more minutes to deal with things.”

“We just started,” he said. “We’re hoping to make a business impression as well.” Given Sam’s prior experience, “we thought this was a good model for a business for someone with his disability.” Sam has surrounded himself with veterans of the business: Along with Kurt Moller, Gary Moller, Kurt’s father, who also worked at Peconic Beverage East, has come aboard as manager.

“A lot of love went into it,” Ms. Iden said of Sam’s Beverage Place. Sam, she said, “is very proud. Nothing makes him happier or more proud than to accomplish something, and a job well done. It makes us really happy to watch. And who could be lucky enough,” she asked, “to have 324-SAMS as their phone number?”

“We like the convenience store concept,” Mr. Iden said. “We started with the basics of the Peconic Beverage business, and wanted to expand upon it to be more of the convenience store model, and also to be sensitive to seasonal needs.”

A fan of craft beers, Mr. Iden made sure to include a selection. Along with sodas, mixers, and juices, “we even have milk and eggs,” he said. “We’re trying to fill out the store, but the store will be what people buy.”

Sam’s Beverage Place will be open year round, he said. “It has to be, for him,” he said of his son. “We understand the seasonality of East Hampton, but people need to have beer, water, and soda year round, hopefully.”