There is a corner of Paulette Boghosian’s store on South Main Street where customers can fill decorated bags with 10 cent Swedish Fish and FireBall candies. In another section, visitors sift through piles of patterned paper to make their own free, customized pins.
She’s made shirts and postcards displaying images of local throwbacks, like the old Concord Drive-In Theatre and Janet’s Donuts. She has cards for sale of movie posters from ’80s classics, like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Pretty in Pink.
As customers shop, they listen to an album playing from a blue suitcase record player. On Tuesday, it’s The Beatles.
“I’m looking to sell weird, cool stuff that you can’t get anymore,” said Boghosian, the owner of Who Doesn’t Want That? “I think it will remind people of simpler times, when things were more fun.”
Boghosian, who also owns an ice cream truck in town, Polly’s Traveling Treats, opened her shop at 35 S. Main Street in mid-October. She said she wanted to bring something different to Concord’s downtown that people from all generations can appreciate.
“Something I hear all the time from people who come in is, ‘Oh, I remember that,’ ” she said. “I love when people say ‘I remember.’ There’s so much excitement.”
“For kids who have never seen some of this stuff before, they also think it’s really cool,” she added.
Boghosian has a wall of stickers and pins for sale with designs like the Ghostbusters logo. She has a box full of mini Smurfs and Troll dolls with multi-colored hair. She’s selling coasters designed to look like mini-records.
Part of the fun of Boghosian’s store is its decoration. One wall is painted with vibrant orange, yellow and blue stripes. The store’s windows are decorated with strings of lights shaped like stars.
The record player is seated next to an orange couch with a box full of albums.
“You can come, hang out and listen to an old record, who doesn’t want that?” she said, with a smile.
There are plenty of interactive pieces of Who Doesn’t Want That? Boghosian said the pin maker has been popular. Next to it is a mini bowling machine that customers can play with.
The products themselves are interactive. She makes 80% of the items she sells at the store – mugs, shirts, tea towels, bags, cards, baby clothes – to name a few. So far, custom orders have been a draw for people coming into the store.
She said something that was important to her when she decided to open the store was quality and affordability. She’s been selling custom items for nine years on her Etsy page and wanted to take it to the next level.
It costs $15 to get a custom shirt. The most expensive item in the store right now is a sweatshirt, $25.
“I want this place to be easy and fun. I want to make certain people understand that you don’t have to buy 10 of one shirt. When you go to other local printing places, you have a minimum you have to meet to create a custom order,” she said. “Here, there is no minimum. You come in with one shirt idea, and we can make that happen for you.”
Boghosian, who likes designing, said she can also help customers design a logo if they’d like. There are no set-up charges. Depending on how busy she is, she can make the shirt in the same day it’s ordered.
To do the work, she has to direct-to-garment printing machines in a workshop in the back of the store. The designs are created with a computer and then heat sealed onto her products.
“Personalize, personalize, personalize. That’s what we’re trying to do,” she said.
She said an exciting piece of having so many handmade and custom products is that her inventory is constantly changing.
“We’re always looking to figure out what kind of products people are looking for, what people are interested in, what they’re talking about,” she said.
They’ve seen a lot of interest, in particular from a younger crowd. Every Saturday, there’s a group of teenagers who comes in and buys new stickers and pins.
“We want this to be a safe place where kids can come, hang out,” she said. “For that age group, in particular, I don’t feel like there’s another store on Main Street where that is the case. We want this to be an open and accepting place for everyone.”
