2 Rockland Businesses Collaborate On New Fun Fashion Line

NEW CITY, NY — Friday will be the unveiling of a fun fashion collaboration between two Rockland business owners.

Petey Wheaty's ice cream store teamed up with Turtle Fitness and the results will go on sale Friday.

"We wanted to do an ice cream clothing drop and thought it would be a great idea to partner up with a local small business," Turtles Fitness owner Eric Bonkoski told Patch. "My team took our logo and mixed it with the Petey Wheaty's logo to make 4 different shirts in 3 different zip-ups! We are so happy to be able to work with a great local business like Petey Wheaty's! Peter has been awesome to work with."

Petey Wheaty's owner Peter Margolin said they were happy when Turtle Fitness came up with the proposal.

"We were so excited to collaborate with another small business, because we love to help other small businesses out and see what they can do," he told Patch. "It’s been a pleasure to work with a company who wants to see others succeed and we want only the same for them."

Margolin opened the stand at 145 S. Main St. in New City five years ago. It sells not only ice cream but also the classics — things like clam strips and hot dogs, fried chicken and fries — plus some unique items, such as a variety of Argentinian empanadas.

"I’ve been in the foodservice business for over 30 years and I always wanted to work in ice cream," he said. "Wheaty was my nickname as a teenager and my first name is Peter, so someone called me Petey Wheaty, and since it was unique, we decided to call it Petey Wheaty’s. The name showcases how different we are than most other local ice cream shops."

Bonkoski's turtle motif comes from his childhood, and the fitness angle came naturally after he and his friends began working out.

"Growing up we had a turtle named Frank. He became our unofficial mascot of really everything we did. As we got older more and more people enjoyed the logo, so we decided to start making clothing with the turtle on it," he told Patch. "We officially started making clothes in 2018 in high school and it has grown from there."

The new clothes will go on sale Friday at turtlesfit.com.