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Source: Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.儲存倉Oct. 13--Pairpoint Glass opened in South Boston in 1837 as the Mt. Washington Glass Co.The company, which now has two Cape Cod locations, has been owned by Tom Fiocco since 2004.The dual responsibility of running a factory as well as a decorative glass shop could make many people think twice before igniting the furnace flames.But not Fiacco.While he had never worked in the world of decorative art before, he said he "immersed" himself in his business and found a niche in the market that captured "both beauty and business."What's the most important thing your business does?We provide people with something beautiful to bring into their home -- an object that they will get a lot of joy out of seeing. Say someone is feeling depressed -- we have a beautiful window ball that you can hang from your window. The sun will hit it every day, and it's going to sparkle, and it's going to put a smile on your face. I really have a lot of fun here and a lot of repeat customers come into the store just to see what's new. I love being able to provide a great experience like that for them. Everybody walks the entire shop and then they always circle back to what they want. And, almost always, people will find the perfect piece for their home or for someone else.How long have you been in business?Pairpoint Glass is recognized as the oldest glass company in America. The company itself has been open since 1837 but moved to the Cape in 1970 from New Bedford. We've been at this location since then. I purchased the company in 2004 because I was interested in buying a company that was well-established, had a great brand name, and was manufacturing. If you think about it, glass blowing is not a rising industry, but we have a great niche market and I think the products that we produce are the best that's out there right now. There are studios in the area but those are one-man shops. This is a factory and we produce thousands and thousands of pieces in a given year. There is no place that rivals us "? on a factory level. We don't compete with the studios and they don't compete with us.What did you do before?Before owning Pairpoint, I always worked for absentee managers. I was the guy they sent in to troubleshoot a company. What I would do is build these companies to a point where the owner wanted to sell them -- or when it was just my turn to walk out. There was one company where we did computer parts, the second was sheet metal, the third was homeopathic drugs, so there was really no relevance or connection to the items. So, for the last assignment, I thought, "Why don't I just do this myself versus doing it for someone else?" I raised my family in Reading, Mass., but my wife loved the Cape so I started looking for a business to buy here. I had experience in business and it is my theory that if you get focused, you learn about the business, you immerse yourself in it for a few years, then it can be a success. So I took a chance and I bought this company in 2004. I've always run factories, but the products I sell now are decorative art glass -- things that people bring into their homes to make them feel good. So it was different then anything I had ever done before. It took a few years to learn the market and I kept thinking I had it, but then I realized that I am still learning. You end up learning something every day.How big is your staff?I probably have about 12 employees combined from both the Sagamore and the Mashpee Commons locations. Mashpee has two employees because there is no factory there, but in the summer that goes up to four people. As far as the factory here in Sagamore, all the guys in there are artists. In order to become a glass blower, you also need to be an artist. And everything my guys make, they know it is going to end up in the store. Once they are done with their pieces, the art comes up here and it goes into quality control where we make sure it's right and then my retail people put it all together inside the store. My season starts in April and then every month after is bigger than the one before because the bus tours come in. And then we get busy again when you get towards Christmas. In January and February, we work on building our inventory and then we start all over again. Year after year, it is consistent.How has the market changed since your business started?In 2008, when the economy crashed, we took a big-time hit. There are two sides of my business. There are the two retail shops, which did well, but then there are the shipments that I send to other retail shops. In that one year, I lost 50 percent of those sales. So how did I co迷你倉最平e with that? Unfortunately, I had to lay a couple of people off. But then we also got a lot smarter about the way we do things. We went to four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days. You can imagine the gas bill with all these ovens, so that helped us out a lot. We also changed the materials we used. And then I just worked like heck to replace the business that I lost, and in 2012, I surpassed my sales for 2008. So, I'm back where I should be. It took four or five years and it was the most frightening time of my life. But, you know, I was never alone. All my friends in business were going through the exact same thing. And although there was no formal support group, I got through that time by talking and knowing I wasn't alone.What are your plans for your business' future?Most of my business comes from the New England area. In the future, I will be looking to expand the retail side of things nationally. At the same time, I am always trying to get more (tour) buses and more tourists to come to the area. I have also hired a super marketing person who has done a great job with social media. A year ago, I may have felt different about (social media), but there are just too many people with their cellphones in their hands and they won't do anything without checking their cellphones. They are on them to find where they are going, what they should wear, to find out how food is at a restaurant. So now we are on Facebook and we will be updating daily with new products and videos. We are also trying to redo our website. So, in essence, I'm trying to get in people's faces as much as I can. And no retirement plans. I am here at the shop at 6 a.m. every day. I have fun and I love coming to work. That will continue.What's the best thing about having a business on the Cape?That would be the location. The tourists and your consumers are here every year. No matter how depressed you get in April and you start to worry, you find that they always come back. People love the Cape and it's a great demographic to have every year. Plus, I don't really need to advertise. Once they come, all I need to do is find a way to get them in the store. But that's my job and I make sure it gets done.What's the biggest challenge to having a business on the Cape?That would be trying to keep the business open 12 months a year when you have a business that really runs for eight months. But, to contrast that, we have business that carries us through the slow months. We do all the awards for the Boston Marathon, as well as the Deutsche Bank Classic. For the marathon, we partner with Long's Jewelers and Bob Rottenberg. There are a total of 120 trophies given out, and besides the top two awards that are made out of sterling silver, we make the rest. That's a really great contract to have. We also probably do golf awards for 50 percent of the golf clubs on Cape Cod. If they are going to give out trophies, they come to us. All of these things combined fill in the slower months.What's your most memorable moment with this business?I do a lot of custom paperweights, and this one time, a good customer of mine came in. He and his wife had been great customers of mine for years. Unfortunately, his wife had passed. He came in and told me they had always collected sea glass on the beach together. He had a bag of sea glass and he wanted me to custom-make paperweights out of the sea glass for all of her six siblings. And, you know, it's something as simple as a paperweight, but it was important to him and special for his wife. It was an honor to do that for him -- and it's that type of reward that you get just working for your customers.What advice do you have for someone starting out in business on the Cape?You really need to immerse yourself in the business and in the community. Learn about your business before you make changes or even try to make changes. You can save yourself a lot of time and energy by understanding your market. I would suggest business school also. The books are great and they teach you structure. Then, go work for somebody. The books don't teach you how to handle customers. And that right there is the name of the game. You learn what gets your customers excited and, at the same time, what can get them to spend money. Once you piece that together and figure out how to relate to your customers, you will learn your business. Don't make your business something it's not and don't ask your customers to buy something they don't want.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) Visit the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) at .capecodonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉