We were surprised, upon strolling along Charles Street in Boston on Independence Day, to find that women’s shoes/bags, etc., retailer Moxie still promotes on the front door of its Beacon Hill shop that it has a Wellesley presence.
The women’s clothing and accessories store actually left Wellesley in early 2015 after about a 6-year run and its Church Street space was filled by NRO Kids. (NRO, by the way, also has a location on Charles Street.)
UPDATE: 7/5/16 — Frustrated upon seeing our original post, headlined “Now that’s some Moxie: Retailer still claims Wellesley presence,” the owner commented on the post, explaining that “this door lettering is not an intentional false claim, but rather a reality of how difficult it is to maintain an independent, small business in a very tough economic climate. The reality of the situation is that many businesses on Charles Street have been broken into or had bricks thrown through windows/doors. As such, we invested in an expensive security film that unfortunately covers the entirety of the door, including the lettering.” (Click on “comments” above to read entire letter.)
We agree that we should have chosen a better word than “claims,” and didn’t intend to suggest the Moxie was intentionally trying to mislead anyone about its continued Wellesley presence. So we have reworked the headline and wording of this post. And while we won’t claim that this post has any huge news value, we do stand by posting it as a simple Swellesley sort of observation…
To the Author – It is with great sadness and frustration that I read this “article”. As Moxie’s owner, I can assure you that this door lettering is not an intentional false claim, but rather a reality of how difficult it is to maintain an independent, small business in a very tough economic climate.
The reality of the situation is that many businesses on Charles Street have been broken into or had bricks thrown through windows/doors. As such, we invested in an expensive security film that unfortunately covers the entirety of the door, including the lettering.
When faced with declining sales (due to pressure from fast fashion, discounters and online retailers), coupled with significant increases in rent, other capital needs to maintain inventory, interior spacial concerns and most importantly, making sure my staff gets paid fair, competitive wages, I made the choice to forgo destroying the security film to remove “Wellesley” from the door and rather explain the situation to anyone who is concerned and takes the time to simply ask.
With all the horrific issues in our world, country and towns I’m surprised that this is considered newsworthy. If you want to discuss real issues concerning keeping Mom and Pop shops alive and able to offer goods and services to the communities we invest in, donate to and call home, then I’m happy chat.
Karen Fabbri, Moxie Owner
Karen, we agree that the term “claims” wasn’t the best choice of word in our original post, so have reworked the post, which we still think has enough Swellesley value to run – just as a slice-of-life observation – regardless of the horrific issues of the world etc. TSR