I grew up in Williamsburg and have been shopping in Northampton my whole life. I’ve always loved shopping, and when I discovered in high school that there was a job that revolved around shopping, I was intrigued. I went on to Framingham State and got a degree in retailing and fashion merchandising. I did some corporate retail after college, then worked at Faces for a few years. I did almost all of the merchandising for their fashion section and also assisted the buyers in reordering. It was at that time that I fell in love with the freedom of a small business—having the power to do things your own way is just a whole other fun and exciting world.
When I left there in 2010, I started as an assistant buyer at Cedar Chest. It was a bit of a new world, as the pace is different in the gift world compared to fashion. I slowly took over ownership of certain departments in the store and brought my personal experience from all of the places I’d worked in the past. I carved out more fashion types of things and developed new departments, including jewelry and more clothing items. I essentially took a $50K department and spun it into a $500K department in a couple of years. Having the ability to try things there was so much fun and continues to be that way!
In 2019, I took over buying for the entire store and a lot of opportunities opened up for testing new products and genres. It’s so important to evolve with the times, bringing in new and fun items that will speak to a range of people, ages, and interests. I had some brief conversations with Rich Madowitz and Jody Doele over the years about possibly taking over ownership of the store, but I didn’t feel quite ready to do so. Ultimately, I decided to go back to school for an MBA in 2020 (and finished my degree in 2021), hoping that might convince me I was prepared to become an owner at some point.
In the meantime, in 2021, we opened Stay Golden, which was initially only meant to be a pop-up shop known as Cedar Chest Fashion for a few months. A few things in Cedar Chest were selling that we didn’t have the space to expand on, so we utilized the new space and I hustled to fill up the store within about a month. It felt like a slight burden at the time, but was totally worth it in the long-run.
In the midst of trying to figure out my next venture, Rich and Jody introduced me to Alex Feinstein (of GoBerry and Provisions). We have complementary skill sets, and I knew I definitely wanted a partner if I planned to move forward as a business owner. It’s been really fun to partner with someone who is like-minded—we both feel very invested in this town, since we both grew up in the area. It’s also very important that we build a strong foundation of a team around us. We love supporting and encouraging our employees to grow, think creatively, and feel invested in what we’re doing at both Cedar Chest and Stay Golden. When you find people who are willing to learn or have a natural ability, you need to hold onto them. There are not a lot of places doing what we’re doing; it’s a bit of a lost art.
