Maglyn’s Dream Set to Rest After 23 Years of Business

Twenty-three and a half years ago, long-time friends and business-partners Lynn Oldmixon and Maggie Havens introduced Maglyn’s Dream to Water Street Market. The boutique evolved from a flexible customer network in Hudson Valley craft shows and home parties to a well-known location on Water Street. 

An outlet for what Oldmixon calls New Paltz’s “wealth of talent,” the boutique featured diverse products of craftsmanship from community and nationally-acclaimed artisans based in the Hudson Valley. Glass work from RoseAnna Stokes, paintings by Carolyn Baum and jewelry from Harriet Forman Barrett were only a few of the boutique’s contributors, anthologizing a tapestry of creative goods that prompted a popular customer motto. “They would need their sparkle fixed,” said Oldmixon.

Oldmixon and Havens intertwined personal lifestyle with the survival of Maglyn’s Dream — a combination of their names “Maggie” and “Lynn” — to keep the business running. “It was such a family effort to keep it alive for so long,” said Oldmixon. 

Overcoming the challenge of change in a town bustling with numerous creative facilities was difficult for the boutique. “The town folks in the beginning did not like Water Street Market. At first it was a change, and no one really likes change,” said Oldmixon. 

Business picked up pace as the boutique accrued benefits from tourist trade and the perpetual current of university students. As school years came and went, student families descended upon Water Street Market to purchase products commemorating special moments within the year, with Maglyn’s Dream being a pulsating heart to the intersecting bodies of on and off-campus communities. The boutique has fostered a symbiotic relationship with the university for many years, even hiring a former dean into its staff. “Without the college, we wouldn’t have lasted 23 years,” Oldmixon said.

Despite a long history in the village, Oldmixon and Havens struggled sustaining profit and keeping an active staff. “We’re very proud of weathering so many different economies and Covid. We did that through not paying [ourselves] or having [kids] help,” said Oldmixon of the business’s family engagement. As the boutique aged, so did its owners, and Oldmixon acknowledged the hardship in keeping a mom-and-pop business like Maglyn’s Dream alive amidst a conflux of personal issues. 

Three years ago, after Oldmixon moved to Florida and even longer after Havens drifted into a supplementary line of work with better benefits — all while the boutique was run by a manager-in-place — Oldmixon was diagnosed with breast cancer. This development caused a polarizing shift in activity, decreasing commerce and causing strain on the working family and staff. “It took a lot out of me and it took a lot out of the family,” said Oldmixon. She has since taken time to heal and recover. However, the years spent battling disease seriously impacted the boutique’s longevity and its performance during peak profit season. 

Typically in the northeast, revenue created during the holiday season keeps small businesses running until March of the following year. However, when Christmas passed in 2024, the boutique’s sales only earned enough to pull through January 2025. Knowing that withholding pay from employees was not a viable option, Oldmixon started working at the boutique herself. “I started to work here so I could pay them — and it broke my heart but I just couldn’t do it anymore,” said Oldmixon. With insufficient benefits to work and little revenue to keep the boutique running, the boutique owners decided to close business. After Maglyn’s Dream closed on its last day on March 30, the boutique was better equipped to accomplish monetary tasks once seen as impossible. 

Though Oldmixon and Havens have moved away from the business and now pursue jobs with more stability, their imprint on the creative pulse of New Paltz has changed the way it beats for good. Together, they wove a network that drew community creators together and provided the town and its students with an invaluable source of skill and craftsmanship through many years. Due to the economic forecast, Oldmixon does not see a second try for the boutique, though it’s not something she sees to be mourned. She said, “This is not a sad story. It is just a journey.”