By Lisa Carolin
One of downtown Chelsea’s favorite shopping destinations is celebrating its fifth anniversary.
La Maison, which sells home decor, furniture, and gift items, is five years old and owner Dana McGrath is preparing for Wine, Women & Shopping on Nov. 9, followed by the busy Christmas season.
She says that in honor of the anniversary, the store will have a drawing during Wine, Women & Shopping called “A few of my favorite things from La Maison gift basket” along with a store-wide sale.
Festivities will continue through the holiday season with lots of seasonal decorations. McGrath is excited to introduce new staff member Susan McCalla, who specializes in visual merchandising.
To what does McGrath owe her successful five-year go of La Maison?
“Being able to delegate tasks and work on the business instead of in the business has been important,” said McGrath. “You must be able to focus and spend time working on your vision for the future.”
She credits the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce and the new #shopchelseamich for their support.
“I believe they are both doing a fantastic job of promoting Chelsea and all it has to offer,” she said, adding that more events mean more foot traffic downtown. “I love the support of my fellow merchants too. It’s great living in a small town and the overall sense of community.”
That said, McGrath feels the frustration of the many people who shop online and says it puts pressure on brick-and-mortar businesses to creatively come up with ways to get people to shop locally.
La Maison also sells Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan and offers monthly workshops as well as interior design services. Hand carvings by Chelsea artisans Marlene and John Dusbiber are also sold at La Maison.
As far as the future goes for La Maison, McGrath says both her store and downtown Chelsea need to keep evolving as a destination.
“It all comes down to the overall experience folks will have when they are strolling through our beautiful downtown, shopping in our unique stores, or dining in our wonderful restaurants at any time of the year,” said McGrath. “We are going to have to work together to keep our downtown vibrant and fun.”
Gorgeous shop