Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen MacDonald.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kathleen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Alima’s Purse is a unique gift shop located within community businesses and recently opened an online store. We started January 2011 in Hopkinton. The name was inspired by the generosity of Alima, a beautiful young woman from an orphanage in Mozambique Africa.
Unlike a traditional retail store, our main goal is to help those in severe need while supporting talented artisans, some of which are struggling to break free of poverty and other cultural restrictions. We have no paid staff and 100% of profits are donated to carefully chosen and effective charities locally and abroad. We offer a variety of hand-made and high-end products, often fair-trade from the U.S and abroad, including such things as home goods, jewelry and other out-of-the-ordinary fashion accessories.
When you make a purchase with us, you have truly made a purchase with a purpose.
Has it been a smooth road?
Starting a business without a profit motive required us to bootstrap the enterprise and requires us to run it very lean. We’ve replaced the “profit” motive with a “giving” one – i.e., the better we do, the more we can give away.
Still, like any business, we need to invest in it to grow and increase our ability to donate. We contributed the initial start-up costs, now have sufficient cash flow to operate and have managed to avoid assuming any long-term debt.
A key part of our strategy is avoiding the expenses of a long-term physical location. We actively seek to partner with other local businesses that benefit from our presence financially, culturally and visually. Finding the right fit within a community business is important to us and we seek to have authentic relationships with our partners. We have found that family and owner-operated businesses appreciate our social objective, commitment to inventory freshness and flexibility.
We are committed to offering fresh ideas and products with interesting stories. This keeps our inventory turnover very high and we spend quite a bit of time researching artisans and evaluating their products. We find many worthy artisans but it is critical that their wares also meet our quality standards.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Alima’s Purse – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We have no profit motive. We judge success by how much we give away and when we find exciting new artisans that are creating wonderful things that bring life to their communities. Our perpetual search for new artisans allows us to bring fresh products and life-affirming stories to our customers. We want our customers to feel like they’ve made a difference when they’ve purchased something from us.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
There are many kind and giving people in our Hopkinton community. They have been loyal customers and very supportive.
The small-town charm is wonderful but the size also limits our opportunities to find partner opportunities that can support our growth and giving aspirations.
Contact Info:
- Address: 28 Main Street Hopkinton MA 01748
- Website: www.alimaspurse.com
- Email: info@alimaspurse.com
- Instagram: alimaspurse
- Facebook: alimaspurse
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
