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City woman leaves corporate America to manage
downtown boutique
New Bedford Economic Development Council
 When
Celia Britto opened her boutique in the former Cherry
and Webb building in 2003, she had scouted locations at
the mall, surrounding towns and elsewhere in the city.
But it was the downtown area that she found was the most
attractive, the most interesting.
“I saw the effort to revitalize downtown produce real
possibilities”, said Celia. “With more and more
businesses sprouting along these streets, a vibrant
business community is taking hold.”
Ms. Britto most recently left corporate America to
manage her boutique full time. For 13 years she was the
purchasing agent for Polaroid in Waltham, commuting 3
hours a day from her home in New Bedford. MCT purchased
Polaroid, she was MCT plant in the Business Park, the
distance to her job was less but still the distance from
her retail business was a growing concern. She
explained, “We think we are superwomen – devoting time
to family, and straddling a corporate career with trying
to run a business at the same time. It is very
difficult. After my family, the boutique is my passion.
Finally I made the break.”
Celia is now fully invested in spending time with her
existing and new customers – face to face. After
attending trade shows in Las Vegas and New York City to
see “what’s hot and what’s not” Celia determines which
vendors provide the quality her customers expect and
which items they will enjoy. “I offer fashionable styles
in all sizes from size 2 to 22, from evening wear to
European styles that enhance the feminine in all women.
Shops in Providence and Boston offer similar urban
styles, but busy working women should not have to travel
so far. I would say we have merchandise that, with a
small change of accessories, a woman could easily move
from work to play attire,” said Celia.
Celia’s is among a growing number of shops that target
the 34-54 female clientele who prefer personalized
customer service not usually found in department stores.
The Blush beauty bar provides a full line of beauty
products and make-up services, Be Jeweled carries
high-end, beautifully hand crafted jewelry. Offerings
range from the hair and skin boutique Studio 508, hair
design and unique color at Salon Lola and
state-of-the-art skin care at Skin Medspa.
“New Bedford is my home and I have so many fond
childhood memories of this area. I just knew returning
full time to my retail business was the right thing to
do to keep the business going.” Celia is planning a five
year anniversary celebration in May. |
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