Tewksbury Town Crier
More Than A Business – Tewksbury’s Unique Boutique
By Rick Cooke
November 29, 2009
The lights on the marquee may flicker, but the greeting that customers receive when they step inside that front door and into the tiny store filled with various beads and bangles and more than makes up for the darkness outside the ‘Unique Boutique.’ The store at 2136 Main Street, Tewksbury was formerly a candy shop, and many years ago it was a little more than a mailing address for a local newspaper struggling to make a dent in the Tewksbury market. Today, the boutique’s owner Joanne Mullaney is living her dream and stepping up to honor the fight against cancer and heart disease. A third project is helping to support our troops in another fight-the fight for freedom. Mullaney is all about caring and helping others, and now she sees her business in a fight for survival. Her dream is not about to die quietly if effort and quality can accurately measure survival.
With her smile that lights up the room and gives meaning to its wares, Mullaney talks about her business as a family and the means-to-an-end in remembering the loss of her mother and a beloved friend.
‘Unique Boutique’ sells various pieces of eye-catching jewelry and a self-designed line bracelets that helped to garner over $10,000 in support of cancer and heart disease charities, including St. Jude, Dana Farber, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.
Three years ago, Mullaney lost her friend Sheree Campbell after an eight year fight against colon cancer. Campbell was 49 years old and left behind a husband and four children. She points to the photo of her friend to the right of the tiny counter filled with bracelets made from beads coming from all over the world. Mullaney’s world took a big hot when she lost her friend. She quickly set about not thinking just about her loss, but about how she would go about helping others dealing with cancer.
“I’ve always love jewelry, and I saw the business as a way of making people feel good inside and outside,” says Mullaney. “When I first got started with the cancer bracelets it was a way of honoring Sheree, who was always smiling, always positive. She was upbeat and never gave up the fight.”
The first bracelets, with the colored beads representing the various types of cancers, proved very popular and Joanne saw a way to help by doing something that she truly enjoyed. That first foray into the bracelet end of her business led Joanne to an expansion of the line to include a red bracelet in support of the American Heart Association. The ‘Nonnie Bracelet’ was started to honor Joanne’s late mother Joann Lacorazza, who her grandchildren called ‘Nonnie’ – Italian for grandmother.
Mullaney has displayed many of her bracelets at recent craft fairs, including tables set up a week ago at the North Street School and the Tewksbury Senior Center. Response to her wares at both fairs was excellent, but so far the store remains quiet in its location tucked along Route 38. This gives Joanne plenty of time to think that business has to get better eventually, but for now, word of mouth would help. She will keep plugging away with that ‘can-do’ attitude, doing the work that she loves- working at her dream day after day.
A customer walks into the store and Mullaney immediately smiles and makes that person feel good about the day. The smile says ‘talk to me and let’s share a story.’ You feel her genuine warmth and the caring about people never getting a shot at living their dreams. All that is missing here is the smell of warm, freshly-baked cookies and the blaze of a glowing fireplace, made complete by your favorite pair of warm slippers and glass of milk. Maybe that’s next, for Mullaney wants her customers to feel good about themselves and their ability to help others pursue their dreams.
“When a person comes in to my shop to share a story, you learn how God gives you the strength,” says Mullaney. Mark, her husband of 35 years, sees his wife living and loving her dream after punching a clock and working nine-to-five in the airline industry for many years. Her family is right there for Mullaney in helping with that occasional pep-talk. Mark, Joann and Kerri Anne gather to make the calls and talk to dad, who worries that mom will see the store turn off the lights forever before the business has a chance to take off. The grandkids, Samantha, 3, Tucker 8 months and 9 month old twins Leo and Domenic are there for their ‘Nonnie’ with smiles and some unconditional love. For Mullaney, all of this love and support can’t help but trickle down to that first customer of the day.
“If I closed tomorrow, I would still have the stories (of people) in my heart. I still want to help people,” said Mullaney. “People are buying a bracelet that is helping a cause, and they will look good when they leave my store. What more can you ask for?”
But, in Mullaney’s world there is always room for more-especially when it comes to advocating a cause for care. The shop’s latest addition to the bracelet line, which also features beads from all over the world, is the ‘Glow with Pride’ bracelet. Having reached her goal of raising money for both cancer and heart disease awareness, Joanne is hopeful that she will be able to do the same for our nation’s troops. “For the past several years, people have been asking me to do something to support the young men and women giving so much back to this country.” Mullaney then created a unique bracelet in red, white and blue with a yellow ‘glow’ bead representing the ribbons that demonstrate the support for our troops.
“The ‘Glow with Pride’ bracelet is a way to wear a nice piece of jewelry, with a portion of every sale donated to the ‘Local Heroes of Wilmington’ along with other charitable organizations in support of the troops,” says Mullaney.
A recent addition to the store’s line is the ‘Baby to Be’ bracelets in pink or blue, with a ‘glow’ bead. Sale of this bracelet will help raise money for St. Jude’s.
Joanne is more than willing to get her creative talents and her store behind any school or organization looking to raise some funds. She will design a bracelet in selected colors, and has experience in working with groups that see some fashion sense as a way to spark awareness in a cause. ‘Unique Boutique’ also features giftware for the holiday season with beads sold individually so customers can design their own necklaces. Items throughout the store are reasonably priced and come with something that no price tag can ever match- a gift from the heart. For now, it’s all about not giving up. Some dreams die hard. “I don’t want to ever give up,” says Mullaney. “I literally give jewelry away. I just do what is in my heart. That’s why I don’t want to ever give up on this. I want to tell people, please don’t ride by- it might be too late- I might even have to put that up on my sign.”
A sign that flickers and goes dark- even after Mullaney paid to have it repaired. On this night, the sign’s lights suddenly kick on- and the message is clear in the early evening dusk. ‘Cancer bracelet’s- $12- limited stock.’ And then n the other side- ‘Nonnie loves Sam, Leo, Dom and T.J.’ Now, Mullaney rents on half of the sign to make ends meet. Fortunately, Joanne will never allow some hard fortune to rent space in her heart or her mind. She remains positive and hopeful, and gets much of her outlook from the few people that have taken the time to locate the store.
Joanne Mullaney remembers the day that her friend Sheree died- June 17, 2006- and that date isn’t on any signs- the words are simply set forever in the heart that makes up this ‘Unique Boutique.’
‘Unique Boutique’ is located at 2136 Main Street (Rte.38) in Tewksbury, across the street from the Dairy Maid. Store Hours are Wednesday through Friday 11 am to 6pm and Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm. Information on the ‘Glow with Pride’ bracelets can be obtained by emailing love4ourtroops@yahoo.com or call the boutique at 978-996-6389. Other questions can be directed to Joanne’s email at shopunique@yahoo.com
