Accessory Business to Donate Portion of Sales to Breast Cancer Research

To the style conscious, accessories can make or break an outfit. And as any fashionista knows, the shopping experience can add to the fun.  

That’s why Cathleen Cuneo, a Port Washington resident, is re-launching Rita Wilcox Accessories. Along with business partner Caroline Babina, Cuneo describes this new venture as a company that offers shoppers the chance to bid on “limited pieces of a bunch of really cool very trendy pieces with unbelievable prices – earrings, bags, bracelets [and] scarves.”

These offerings will be available on Facebook, Tuesdays from 8-9 p.m. Directions on how to register and bid are on the Rita Wilcox Accessories Facebook page. Cuneo recommends pre-registering, before the auction begins, so that shoppers already input their information into the database. That way, shoppers can "literally just type SOLD under the item, and the first ones to do it 'wins' the item," she said.

“The fastest clickers will win the pieces that they want, making it a fun way to spend an hour of down time on Tuesday nights,” she added.

Shoppers will receive their goods in time for the weekend, Cuneo said.

Each month, the company will donate a portion of the proceeds to a worthy nonprofit. In October, Cuneo said, the company is donating money to Manhasset Women’s Coalition Against Breast Cancer, a nonprofit whose programs include an outreach program, fundraising for research and education.

Cuneo said “Rita Wilcox” is a name with which many in Port Washington and surrounding communities are already familiar. 

“Rita Wilcox is known by everyone,” Cuneo said. “She was a vendor at everything,” including school fashion shows, holiday fairs and ladies night events.  

“She was in other towns as well,” Cuneo said. “She always had the best accessories.”

The new venture pays tribute to Wilcox, whom Cuneo said moved out of New York and passed away at an early age.

“This is a re-launch of her type of accessories,” Cuneo said. And the forum – Tuesday night shopping on Facebook – makes it what Cuneo calls a "Girls Night In" kind of event.