Local Supporting Local: ECI Stores to celebrate 25 years in business
When it comes to supporting the local community, you can look no further than Cassandra and Neil Abramson, owners of ECI Stores.
ECI Stores is the parent company of four local consignment shops in Leominster, Ma: Cutie Patuties, CP & Company, Cutiques, and Q for Teens. Established in October 1998, ECI Stores has grown into four locations that are conveniently right near each other.
“You can do all of your shopping in one day!” Abramson said.
Cutie Patuties specializes in gently used items, sized for newborns to preteens, which can be anything from clothing, toys, and baby equipment like strollers. Q for Teens is everything you can imagine that’s fashionable for a teenager and young adult, including clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, and more. According to the website, “Q is You! Q can be whatever style your young adult is all about: retro, vintage, hip, modern, romantic, or rustic – we’ve got it all!”
CP & Company provides a large selection of misses, petites, and plus size clothing for women and adults, which also includes bags, accessories, clothing, and more. Cutiques just recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary with their ribbon cutting this past March 2023. This division of consignment focuses on home décor and furniture, with everything from a kitchen table to lamps and lighting, wall hangings and more.
“One of the things that we really try to do is community involvement,” Abramson said. “More than most businesses, your local consignment store is your community, because that’s how we source our inventory – there’s no truck pulling up that has inventory in it. It all comes in from your neighbors: things that they’ve outgrown, things that they don’t need, and things that they are ready to move on from. It’s all community driven.”
When their daughter was approximately six months old, Abramson would visit her favorite consignment shop in Worcester and do all her shopping there for her newborn, until one day, that shop decided to go out of business. Disheartened, Abramson thought about where she was going to shop next. She decided right then and there that she was going to open her own store instead.
“I went to the car to call my husband and said, ‘I’m opening a consignment store!’”
As their child grew, her needs grew and expanded into the next size range, ECI Stores also expanded into the next steps: teen clothing, shoes, accessories, and more to what you see today.
With a focus on local, consignment stores live and breathe from the local community. Everything that you see in consignment stores is brought in by neighbors, family, and friends who have outgrown the item. These items could be useful for someone else and their family.
“We price it, make descriptions, put it on our website, and we can even ship directly to you if needed,” Abramson said. “There’s hardly any other business, especially a small business, that has about 3,500 unique, individual items on the website.”
And although it may be a lot of work, the Abramsons make it look easy, especially since after the COVID-19 pandemic nearly three years ago.
“We’ve been doing more online since the pandemic. It really provided us the time and necessity to be able to focus back on the business,” she said. “Businesses had the opportunity to either shut down and wait, or use the time productively and say, ‘what can we do for after?’ And that’s what we did, every single day.”
Abramson now provides online sales through their website, as well as Facebook and social media sales. “We reach our customers however they need it.”
Being able to think on their feet and find a solution for not just themselves, but for their customers as well is what makes ECI Stores unique, and providing sales online shows diversity in what they can offer as a consignment store.
“We try to keep everything locally driven – insurance, banking, office supplies, coffee…you name it. We do everything we can to support the North Central area and support local businesses,” she said.
As a long time member of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, ECI Stores loves the ongoing educational opportunities. The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce keep their members updated on everything that you need when it comes to business. They also make sure that you have everything that you need to ensure that your business succeeds. Additionally, ECI Stores has an appreciation for the business connections with other local businesses and Chamber members.
“Everything that you do makes an impact, and the local store needs your help and support as well because they’re employing your neighbors and the people around you. You get a better product and a better relationship with local. If you can keep it local, it makes a difference.”
You can find out more about ECI Stores and their four locations on their website at www.ecistores.com or giving them a call at 978-534-6604.
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