Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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ne Shopping Stadium Oil has been serving families and businesses for over 20 years. We are proud of our reputation for superior service, quality products and personal attention. Call today and allow us to provide you unprecedented attention and service. Second Helping: Re-find owner Shelley Matthews and wares in her shop. 525 Lowell Street, Peabody, MA 01960 StadiumOil.com shop owners like Bobbie Gordon, the owner of Loop Con- signment, a children's store in Swampscott that opened in April 2010, because it often doesn't offer much bang for her buck. After winning a "Best Of" award from the Swampscott Reporter, she offered a 20 percent off coupon to accompany the news and wound up with no takers. She started telling her customers to look for the coupon because she wanted people to use it. "That wasn't the point," she says. "The point was to bring in new business." Fortunately, social media and the Internet offer a wealth of free advertising. On the very active Francie's Boutique Facebook page, every Wednesday, Fincke posts a 20 per- cent off sale on a specific item, like boots or outerwear. And when she gets special or unusual pieces in, she'll post a photo to Facebook—she's even sold some items to friends on the West Coast this way. The Internet can also be a way to keep the cash flow going during slow months. Gordon has one customer who will post big-ticket items, like strollers and high chairs, on Craig's List on her behalf. If the item sells, the customer takes a 20 percent cut of the proceeds. And last winter, when the snow piled up continuously and kept shoppers inside, Fincke turned to eBay to make some sales—and occasionally shut the door to her shop for a little while to go for a walk and get some coffee. While Fincke admits that it was a bit disconcerting to find pain herself with an empty store in a nearly deserted downtown, that ability to make her own decisions is one of the main rea- sons that she enjoys running her own business, despite having to scale down her lifestyle. "I certainly made more money when I didn't work for myself," she says, "but there is an intan- gible value that more than makes up for the adjustment." Community Connections One of those intangibles is a sense of community that Fincke finds developing around her shops, from the Rockport tour- 96 nshoremag.com January/February 2012 nshoremag.com January/February 2012