By MAUREEN DOHERTY
Published March 25, 2021
Of all the heartless acts that could be done by nameless, faceless, out-of-state corporate landlords, it’s forcing a second-generation 58-year family business out of business at any time, but most especially during a global pandemic. Operating the Carr’s Hallmark gift shop is the life’s work of the Carr sisters, as it was for their late parents. Everyone in town knows and loves MaryEllen and Karen.
Sadly, we are guilty of a grave hypocrisy in this country. Do we truly believe in equality of the sexes and trying to right the wrongs of past generations from the not-so-distant past when women couldn’t own property or businesses or enter into contracts? Why do we bother paying lip service to “Women’s History Month” every March like clockwork if we really don’t care about the issue the other 11 months of the year? Annually, on March 8, the world lauds the many and varied accomplishments of women in acknowledgement of “International Women’s Day,” but few people have a clue that this day of recognition has been around since 1911.
Then, we stand by and toss our hands in the air when a women-owned business – in progressive Massachusetts – is forced out of business in a plaza where about one-third of the storefronts are empty at any given time.
The Carrs want to remain at the location where they have been for 42 years, loyally paying their rent to five different landlords and helping to keep that plaza afloat during turbulent times – roughly one landlord every eight years. Through wars, recessions, double digit inflation, dot.com busts, the aftermath of September 11th, market corrections, the aftermath of the housing crisis, and now, a year-long global pandemic, the Carrs have paid their rent, often while surrounded by empty units. The Rubin family built the original plaza, and kept it locally owned for decades. After the Rubins sold it and retired, the plaza has changed hands four more times. For much of the past year, it has been a ghost town especially during the forced lockdown when big box stores were allowed to remain open but small mom-and-pop stores were slammed shut. Still, they paid their rent throughout those three long months with no customers.
Many well-meaning townspeople have suggested the Carrs move to another spot in the plaza or move to another shopping center altogether, but there are other factors at play that make doing so nearly impossible. Among them, the fact that if they did move, in order to keep the Hallmark franchise they’d be required to invest upwards of $100,000 in new fixtures and renovations, which is not a wise or feasible investment at this stage of their careers. Their current fixtures have been retired by Hallmark and are no longer manufactured. You might say the powers that be have caught them coming and going, and it just doesn’t feel right. It would be nice if Hallmark would given a little on this point considering the number of brick-and-mortar stores of every variety going out of business nationwide.
Business owners with less fortitude than Karen and MaryEllen Carr would have given up long ago. But theirs is a labor of love. They have supported us through the joys and sorrows of life, as well as countless community fundraisers and town organizations, not to mention their contributions to the town’s tiny commercial tax base for nearly six decades.
Now it’s our turn to support them. If you can, pay them a visit in the next several weeks. Pick up cards or gifts that you’ll need in the coming year so the Carr sisters don’t have to liquidate their merchandise at an even deeper loss. And remember – shop locally because it matters. People’s livelihoods literally depend on it.
