Berry's Stationers: Creative Works
by Michelle Troutman

A walk into Berry's Stationers could lead you to become buried in the many treasures that lie within. A corner-to-corner collage of art and office supplies greets the eyes: rows of paintbrushes, shelves of paints, pencils, markers, and stationery, and racks of coloring books and greeting cards. Off to the side, the picture framing area features colorful samples of frames arranged in rows along the walls.

Michael Giroux and his sister, Michelle Giroux-Paré bought the long-term business (established circa 1897) in December 2001. Michael had spent five years working for previous owners Lee and Becky Brandwein as a bookkeeper. The brother and sister team saw it had a lot of potential, and with a lifelong shared love of music and the arts, Michael's strong accounting background, and his and Michelle's Masters degrees in Business Administration from Husson College, they felt confident enough that they could run it themselves.

Since buying Berry's, they've focused more on occupying a niche in art supplies. "Obviously, we've tried to have a lot of fun things for the kids, for the beginner artist or for anyone," says Michael. "Not a week goes by that I don't see someone who's been in here for an hour and go, 'Wow! I still haven't seen everything. I've got to come back.'"

The business is a family affair -- their father Gerald helps out often, as does Michelle's husband, and her son, Daniel, a high school senior. Running the business also allows Michelle to spend more time with her six-year-old and 19-month-old children.

Michelle's other work involves teaching, giving music lessons and serving as an adjunct business instructor at Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC). (She taught one of the courses I took to get my degree in Business Administration Marketing/Management, the Entrepreneur's Guide to Small Business Management.) Michael is also involved in the community as a state youth director for the Knights of Columbus, and he plays percussion for the Augusta Symphony Orchestra and for the Kennebec Performing Arts Company (KPAC) Wind Ensemble.

Michael and Michelle choose their merchandise based on customer requests and cutting edge items they see at trade shows and advertised in art magazines.

"If it's out there, I can usually obtain it. It might take a week, depending on where I get it from. Sometimes I can get it in a day or two," says Michael.

They have built strong relationships with instructors at local colleges, selling art portfolios and bags of products for students which contain everything they need for a whole semester.

"One of the strengths we have over most stores similar to ours, is that we sell a lot of open stock, so you don't have to buy a set. You can come in and buy a purple pencil if you need it," says Michael.

Another important part of the business is custom picture framing and mat cutting. "We get really creative with our mat cutting," Michael says, which allows them to do die cutting to create different shapes, such as ovals for multiple openings for photographs.

"Framing is definitely a fun part of the business for me -- it's creative," says Michael. They have framed such diverse items as baseballs, a full military dress uniform, golf clubs from St. Andrews, turkey tail feathers, arrows, and a skateboard.

"It's interesting when people come in to frame something I've never framed before, or they've never done anything to be able to explore color, shapes, designs. I mean, we're being let into their lives, to some extent."

"Oh, yeah," agrees Michelle. "We have people coming in with paint swatches from their walls, or wallpaper swatches, and they're saying, 'OK, this is what my living room looks like. What can we put up in here?'"

They are willing to work with customers to find a good price. They enjoy the hands-on approach of dealing with their customers and using their knowledge of their products to help them.

"A lot of our customers that aren't full-time artists are people in stressful positions, whether they're in a medical position or whatever, and art is kind of their outlet," adds Michael. "It's different than your normal nine-to-five job. You never know who's going to come through the door."

"Another thing, too, about owning your own business is sometimes people will call, and say, 'Oh, I work during the week. I can't get there 'til Saturday. I can be there at 4:30,'" Michelle says. "If somebody needs to come in and pick up a certain piece, or something that they need to have framed in the evening, we'll come back here."

With their passion for their work, their willingness to accommodate customers, their product mix and their focus on a niche market that sets them apart from e-tailers and box stores, customers will likely keep coming back to Berry's Stationers for many more years.

Berry's Stationers at 153A Main St. is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00am to 5:00pm, with extended hours by appointment: (207) 873-5111. www.berrysstationers.com.

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