the FULLer CUP for a fuller experience!

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Laura Fuller, the owner of the eponymous store: the FULLer CUP, a coffee and sandwich shop located in downtown Winchester. “My last name is Fuller. Many people don’t know that!” However she had a deeper intent when naming the store. It was about “letting people come in and leaving a little more full than they came.” The goal was to create an inviting space for the customer. Her mission statement is about “building connections … and building relationships,” and she has demonstrated just that during the past year and a half of the pandemic.

Like many small businesses all over the country, the FULLer CUP has also experienced the challenges of the pandemic. Mrs. Fuller’s objective during the initial stages of the pandemic was to “commit to being safe” and to “commit to opening the door,” no matter what was being served. She feels that her customers want “consistency, reliability, familiarity and comfort” and focusing on those traits has served her well. Over the last year and a half, she has maintained her loyal customer base and acquired many new customers in the area.

That said, to adapt to the turbulent times, Mrs.Fuller made some procedural changes to her business. Some changes were tactical. Online ordering is something that she has always wanted to roll out but could never find the time to implement before the pandemic began. She has also introduced delivery options but admits that given her business's current scale, delivery has not yet become a major focus area.

However, the strategic changes have been even more impressive. As the size of the team shrunk, Mrs. Fuller realized that they may not be able to make all of the food in-house. But she could definitely procure it from somewhere else and bring it to the store. To facilitate this, she got rid of the tables and chairs so that there was more “movement and flow.” She sought out local food preparers and convinced them to prepare the food that could stock the FULLer CUP shelves. She was very creative in how she went about finding these vendors. For instance, she contacted the suppliers of the local Farmer’s Market and asked them if they would sell their products directly to her, thus creating a win/win situation for both parties to continue operating and, more importantly, serve the community. As Mrs. Fuller puts it, these new relationships that were forged within the community are “the silver lining of the pandemic.” Nor were the strategic changes limited to just the products sold. She turned her attention to her employees who are “in the trenches” with her every day. “How can I be a better leader/mentor for them?” She aimed to make the work environment less stressful and more fun for them.

In keeping with the community aspect of her mission statement, “being a good neighbor” is important to Mrs. Fuller, and “we are all in this together,” means local businesses helping each other out in small yet important ways. For example, the FULLer CUP, previously sold dog treats in its stores but when the pet store Ciao! Bow Wow came along, she stopped carrying them. Instead she would direct customers to the brand new pet store in Winchester. Similarly, Nourish Your Soul sells smoothies, a product which the FULLer CUP, then decided not to sell. She feels that this “celebration of each other” directly benefits the community as well. By pointing her customers to different stores, she is exposing them to all the products and services Winchester small businesses can offer.

Through all these challenges, Mrs. Fuller has shown incredible resilience, teaching us not only how to survive but also how to thrive in difficult circumstances. She serves as a role model for all of us. She mentioned that in many towns, several small businesses have closed, yet somehow the small business community here in Winchester has stayed strong. She urges everybody, including herself, to be “accepting, adapting...and always kind.” This September marks the five-year anniversary of the FULLer CUP. Understandably, Mrs. Fuller is very proud of this milestone, and I look forward to enjoying my next fulfilling bite at her store.

Ciao! Bow Wow - A Pet Owner’s Haven

“The average lifespan for a dog used to be nine to ten years, now it is close to thirteen to fifteen years. This is because we have better foods and better treats” according to Jeffrey Mancarella, who along with partner Todd Flolo are the owners of the pet supply store Ciao! Bow Wow, with locations in North Andover and Winchester. According to their website, their specialty is “offering the finest products for dogs and cats at reasonable prices”. I had the pleasure of interviewing them recently, covering a wide range of topics like how the business got established, the effect of the pandemic, working with family-owned suppliers and future plans.

Jeff and Todd purchased their first store, located in North Andover, in 2019. It was a store that had existed for about ten years. They had been exploring various business options in the pet industry since 2018, and there is an amusing anecdote that goes along with this purchase. Both Jeff and Todd are animal lovers and have a pet dog. Almost four years ago, their dog was diagnosed with diabetes and like all concerned pet owners, they wanted to “do the best they could” for him by exploring various options. In the process, they ended up going into the retail pet store business. In Jeff’s words, “instead of buying a new pair of socks for the dog, we bought a store”. The Winchester store opened after Covid hit (April 2021).

It is widely known that the pandemic has taken a toll on small businesses - with forced closures, reduced foot traffic, and supply chain disruptions. Yet Ciao! Bow Wow seems to have weathered the storm better than some others. They are taking it “day by day”. Safety for both their customers and their employees is of paramount importance. They mandated masks in both their stores “even before it was required by the state of Massachusetts”. The pandemic increased pet ownership, a trend that benefited their business. However, after an initial spurt, the sales decreased as pandemic related fears grew. Sales have since leveled off. Their focus on relentless “customer service” and “doing whatever it takes” has helped them in the business as well. The pandemic expedited their curb service and delivery offerings.

Ciao! Bow Wow prides itself on sourcing its products from family owned businesses with an intense focus on quality. Many of those businesses have struggled during the pandemic, and some continue to do so, mostly due to staffing and supply chain issues. However, so far they have been able to counter those issues by “planning ahead” and “restructuring their ordering process.” For instance, instead of ordering a product once a month, they would do it twice a month. This way even if one of the orders gets filled, they are covered. The new ordering process is something the owners plan to continue with even after the pandemic as it has resulted in “making our store shelves fuller” and not running out of items. There is always something in the “backstock waiting to go on to the shelves.”

Currently the store is focused exclusively on products for dogs and cats. There could potentially be service offerings in the future but no immediate plans. However, expanding to other towns is always in the cards. In fact some communities, Arlington and Reading, for example, have asked them to open a store in their towns. The typical research that determines where to open stores includes looking at the community in general and how many dog and cat owners there are.

In summary, Jeff and Todd’s strong focus on customer service and superior products has resulted in a pet store that has survived and thrived during the pandemic. So the next time you want to treat your dog or your cat, a visit to Ciao! Bow Wow might be in order.

BookENDS, the corner store and cornerstone of our community!

BookENDS is a quintessential New England independent bookstore, located in the heart of Winchester Center since 1984. While quaint in appearance, they are modern in their customer service, working directly from all major publishers for quick and easy special ordering and restocking. BookENDS partners with area schools and businesses to offer competitive pricing on book orders, and have a rotating schedule of local and bestselling authors in the store for free events. Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking to Ms. Judy Manzo, the owner of BookENDS since 1992. She spoke about how the pandemic affected her business and the creative ways she found to survive and even thrive once the shutdown rules were relaxed.

Ms. Manzo purchased the store sometime in 1992 and has been running it for almost 30 years. The store is both a “mission and a passion.” She is also a long-time resident of Winchester and has always been a big supporter of the community. She has had a number of roles - town meeting member for 33 years, member and past president of the Chamber of Commerce, volunteer to name a few. She believes that the distinguishing feature of BookENDS is the service and the loyal customer base. The store has a loyalty program and most of the customers are enrolled in it. “About 80% of the shoppers are Winchester residents and the rest are from nearby towns that don’t have a local bookstore.”

Like all businesses, the pandemic did affect the running of the bookstore. “It was painful and exhausting.” For almost three months, the store was closed as mandated by the State. However, when the go-ahead was given for curbside pickup and home deliveries, it was “like an explosion” in terms of the new orders and requests that came in. Ms. Manzo and her team worked very hard to fulfill all the incoming requests. She attributes the store’s success to the community. Throughout the lockdown period, many of her customers would call, text, or even talk from outside the store saying, “We want you to be here. You are so important to the town.” She also personally drove all over Winchester delivering books to customers after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed.

With the reopening of the economy, BookENDS is back and fully operational with some mandates from last year, wearing masks for instance, still in place. Additionally, Ms. Manzo is experiencing an uptick in new customers as more people discover the store now that the lockdown is lifted.

Surprisingly, the pandemic brought in alternate revenue streams for BookENDS. For example, there is an online bookseller aptly called bookshop.org, whose charter is also to support independent bookstores, like BookENDS, all over the US. After every purchase, the customer is given an option to choose a store from a list of about 800 stores to receive a commission from the sale. Another online store, libro.fm, operates on a similar principle except that they sell audiobooks. These stores also provide an avenue to the customers to support their local bookstore even when they are no longer living in that town. Ms. Manzo benefited from such purchases.

Ms. Manzo firmly believes that small businesses are the keys to a bustling and lively downtown and so it is imperative that local customers support them. In exchange, customers are rewarded with a much higher level of engagement with the store and its employees. For instance, in BookENDS, there are impromptu conversations between customers or between customers and the staff about the books. It is a sense of community which can never be replicated when ordering online. As a parting thought, she said “Small businesses are a very significant part of the culture and people don’t often realize that until it is too late.” Definitely, something to remember the next time we find ourselves strolling around downtown Winchester.

Constant Innovation

A conversation with Gail Ockerbloom, owner of Studio on the Common.

As part of our continued series of interviews with small Winchester-based business owners, I recently spoke to Mrs. Gail Ockerbloom, the owner of “Studio on the Common” located on Church Street right next to the Winchester Common. It consists of three separate businesses started at different times. There is a traditional gift shop containing “highly curated items” for special occasions like weddings, baby showers, and other happy events. There is the art studio, where kids and adults are able to draw and paint. Interestingly, there are cabinets and chairs from the old WHS (before its reconstruction). A number of summer and after-school programs are offered there. Finally, when the paint store next door relocated to another place outside of town, Mrs. Ockerbloom saw an opportunity to open a full-fledged pottery studio with 10 wheels and 2 kilns. These businesses complement one another and smooth out seasonal economic fluctuations. Her story illustrates the fact that, “if you have a dream, do it, you just need to know that you are going to work really really hard.”

Mrs. Ockerbloom is a long-time resident of Winchester, both growing up here and attending the local schools. She raised her two kids here as well. For many years, she worked for well-known hi-tech companies like EMC (now a part of Dell), Microsoft, and Kronos. She always dreamed of opening an art studio in Winchester and in 2015, her dream came to fruition. Interestingly, she toyed with the idea of opening the store even earlier, in 2008. However, the prevailing economic downturn, and the heightened risk, dissuaded her from doing so. In 2014, while working for a non-profit healthcare company, she witnessed new windows being put on the current store location. This revived her dream and with encouragement from her husband, she went for it. Having no retail experience, she had to learn every aspect of running the business from the ground up - supplies, artists, payment processing, purchasing, and even packaging to name a few.

As with any other small business, navigating the pandemic was challenging to say the least. “It seems more normal now but my guard is not down.” Nothing like this has ever happened and there was a lot of uncertainty. For instance, in March 2020, she sent an email to her staff saying that the store was closing. At that time, it was unclear as to how long the closure would last. Thanks to a PPP (Paycheck Protection Plan) loan, she was able to pay her staff during the pandemic.

That said, she found innovative ways of offering new services to keep the business running at some level. For instance, soon after the shutdown, they decided to make art kits and have instructional videos to go along with them. Since the store was closed, they had to do some kind of curbside pickup to deliver the kits to the customers. The art kits were a big success. She also reached out to her contacts in the high-tech industry to see if the kits could be sold there. Those businesses had employees, with young children, working from home and were finding it difficult to keep their kids engaged. The kits, along with the videos, proved to be very popular with over a thousand units sold all over the country. Another activity was the “COVID Family Challenge,” where families were given three art challenges. Employees at the store would then vote on those completed items. All this was done over Zoom. She also started the pods program, where a set of kids, who know one another well, would become part of a pod, and that pod would attend an in-person art class complete with masking and distancing guidelines. The pods continue to be popular as they have evolved into a social activity. The store also ran service programs during the pandemic and offered free paint nights for hospitals.

The innovation was not limited to the art store. In the gift store, Mrs.Ockerbloom very quickly established an online presence. She also offered new products like Easter kits or quarantine survival kits. Those would be ordered online and mailed from the store. “I think we worked harder during the pandemic.”

Business is coming back, and Gail credits the “Studio team and talented colleagues” for the success. “ It never would have been possible without every one of us!” Right now, there is no mask mandate in the store but a few classes, involving young children, still require masks to be worn. As for the future of the business, there are no immediate expansion plans. She sees the business as one that serves the community and, as such, requires a lot of time to do so effectively. Plus, where she is in her professional and personal life, she is not “looking to build an empire.” She wants her legacy to be one where people walk by the store and remember it with great fondness and affection. Now that is a very noble thing to aspire for.