Etcetera Shoppe a testament to vision, persistence

MEREDITH — Beverly (Shannon) Foerst, a military brat, gained exposure to lands and islands far outside New Hampshire's Lakes Region, but Lake Winnipesaukee was her family's favorite getaway.

Her dream was to raise a family near her childhood summer retreat, and the opportunity presented itself in l972, when she, her husband and their three girls moved to Meredith with a plan to expand his accounting practice. But fate took a harsh twist with the sudden death of her husband.

Bereft of savings and facing life as a single mother, she was unsure of what path lay ahead, except the one she knew was not an option. If she had learned anything as a traveling youngster, it was that folks with far less than she had could always find the inner strength to make the most of life's setbacks if they didn't wallow in self-pity. State assistance was off the table.

Like a lot of main streets throughout America during that era, Meredith's retail district was teeming with energy and prosperity. Having witnessed the success of a consignment store in Wisconsin, Foerst recognized that no such store existed locally for women like herself seeking bargains, so she opened the Etcetera Shoppe.

A local resident offered to rent her the first floor of the corner building on Lake and Main. With a $1,000 business loan and a single ad in the Laconia Citizen, Foerst opened her business with women and children's clothing and miscellaneous household items.

Despite a ceiling collapse from a burst pipe from the upper apartment, a chimney fire and a family of skunks in residence below the entry, she was undeterred in her resolve to be successful and provide for her daughters. Word of mouth is golden in a town the size of Meredith, and the business flourished to include all lines of apparel and a wider assortment of children's and household needs.

As the town's complexion evolved from a mill town to a bustling retail and housing community, Foerst considered her options for alternative locations. Dieter Foerst, a hard-working industrialist, offered to purchase land just outside the village, affording her the ability to expand her offerings to furniture in addition to creating a sizeable parking lot.

Forty-six years later, Bev and Dieter Foerst enjoy 35 years of marriage and offer 10,000 square feet of castaway gems in the form of clothing for men, women, children and pets; jewelry, furniture, paintings, china, crystal, collectibles, hardcover and paperback books, formal attire and just about any household item imaginable.

The advice she might offer an aspiring entrepreneur willing to take a risk today is straightforward: "If you work hard enough, it'll happen. Customers that come through the door ... they become your friends."

Other pointers include "be consistent with store hours and resist taking weekends and too many holidays off. Maintain good working conditions so as to attract a good support staff."

She credits her daughter, Kelly Gunderson, with the helping hand she's needed to continue her solo business. Sue Cronin, Wendy Demers and Pam Nicholas comprise the other members of the quartet that keeps the doors open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with only four holidays off: New Year's, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Foerst set up a means to identify customers with a letter and number system representing the first letter of their last name and a sequential number. The numbers now ascend into the thousands.

While other consignment stores lean toward a higher percentage for the store, Foerst has only made one adjustment over the years — in favor of her consignment partners — from a two-thirds split to a 65/35 apportionment.

While Meredith relies heavily on tourism for its sustainability, her customer base consists of year-round residents like Donna Badalucco, who hails from Long Island and visited the Etcetera Shoppe more than 25 years ago as a tourist. But, like the owner herself, the lure of the area was too strong to resist, and Badalucco moved here year-round.

"I love it here," she said, drawing no distinction about whether she was talking about the store or the location.