Award-winning retailers: Local businesses gain recognition for displays, creativity

By James J. Allen
Staff Writer

Creativity and presentation . owners of small shops know that both are essential elements of a successful business.

Fashion boutiques and home decor shops aren't like hardware or grocery stores, where the essentials are plucked from the shelf and plunked down on the checkout counter. They are showrooms where both the product and how it's displayed must draw the customer's attention.

The owners of two Newburyport shops certainly know the difference, and have been recognized by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts for each mastering one of these elements.

For its unique store design that creates different moods and atmospheres through flowing colors, Homespun Gatherings, off Merrimac Street, has won the association's Display Award.

And for its innovative idea that allows shoppers to create customized, high-quality handbags from materials of their own choosing, anna william, of Merrimac Landing on Merrimac Street has won the organization's Creative Concepts Award.

The local businesses, honored earlier this month at the association's seventh annual excellence ceremony in Boston, garnered two of the seven statewide awards.

"The (awards) provide an opportunity to single out some of the area's most outstanding and innovative retailers," said association President Jon Hurst.

Judges appeared at the two businesses this fall after the owners were surprised with the news they were nominated. Learning later that they had won awards and would be honored at the Nov. 18 event surprised the owners of both businesses.

"It really is a great honor," said Erin Hornyak, one of the proprietors of anna william.

Deb Pagley, who owns Homespun Gatherings, equated the distinction with receiving a stamp of approval from the retail community that says "this place is worth stopping at and taking a look to see what we have to offer," she said.

Custom creativity

When anna williams' Keek Lee first formulated the idea of allowing customers to create their own handbags, the make-your-own business concept was in its infancy.

But after her business was launched in 2003, "the custom industry has really taken off," said Hornyak, Lee's daughter.

Business is doing so well, anna william opened a second store in Cambridge's Porter Square earlier this year. And Hornyak said the idea has flowered into a nationwide business with about 25 representatives holding "handbag parties" from New England to the West Coast, much in the way Mary Kay brings its cosmetics into homes.

So why has the do-it-yourself concept skyrocketed in pottery, fashion and other industries?

"I think it's because a lot of women out there get to express their creativity in doing this," Hornyak said.

Customers, which include men who often buy gift certificates for women, begin by selecting one of the business's 18 handbag styles, move on to choosing ribbon, fabrics and assembly materials, and then have their design sent to the factory. Finished products range in price from $58 to $110, with accessories from wristlets to wallets ranging from $22 to $32.

Distinctive displays

Moving from the Tannery Mall on Water Street to a space three times larger on the central waterfront was just one of the changes to which Homespun Gatherings adapted.

The shop, started in the late 1980s, was at first a cooperative of 10 women selling mostly their own crafts. But through the 1990s, the home decor, gifts and accessories store evolved into the sole proprietorship of Deb Pagley and her daughter Laura.

In 2002, the shop moved into a building across from The Black Cow, expanding from 1,000 square feet to 3,200 square feet. That presented another task: creating displays that stood apart from one another, but looked well together. Much of the design was left up to Laura Pagley.

"She's got an eye for color," her mother said. "She can get things together and make things look spectacular."

The result was an award-winning display that seems to shepherd the customer from one arrangement to the next.

"You almost get the feeling that you're moving through a home with six or seven different rooms," said Deb Pagley, who attributed the award to the store's five other employees as well.

While the shop sells a multitude of items . from glassware to candles to furniture, some are old, some new, but all are arranged in a way that builds upon the store's "flowing" style, Laura Pagley pointed out.

Home decor is the major theme, with high-quality bedding and accessories contributing a major part of its sales, the women said. "You can find a gift for anyone here," Laura Pagley said.