Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Heath and Rose Mattos.
Erin and Rose, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We started off as a Floral and Event Design company called Foret Design Studio in a co-working space in Somerville, formerly known as Fringe. Fringe was full of inspiring young businesses and established entrepreneurs.
We’ve always retained the same space for our business and recently acquired more space in the same building to expand our business to another new venture– retail. Though the shop, Queen of Swords, has a different name and does carry plants, flowers and garden tools, it is not a retail flower shop. Instead, we focus on bringing small-batch, ethically-minded goods to the Cambridge/Somerville community. Many of the brands we carry are created and operated by women. The shop has now been open for almost a full year and Foret is having its 6th birthday concurrently.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has certainly been an adventure– full of twists and turns, ups and downs as well as smooth-sailing, flat scenic highways. For us, a lot of the struggle with starting a new business is creating systems. Once a solid system is in place, it’s much easier to implement and stay on track. Of course, it’s important to constantly be assessing and evolving. Being stagnant or rigid will only make those bumps in the road that much harder.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Queen of Swords – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We’re a shop that sells home goods and apparel. Our vibe is East Coast meets West coast– both California and New England. Textures and natural elements inspire us the most so we look to source goods that celebrate them like hand-thrown ceramics, block-printed scarves, earthy candles, letterpress cards, slow fashion garments, etc.
We’re constantly aware of our surroundings and how we can bring something fresh to the table. We never want the shop to feel stagnant or mainstream. The idea of opening a store came out of a desire to curate the unseen in Boston. Although we’re small, we’re proud of our little stamp and the doors that we invite the community to enter into.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our online presence is something we’re still striving to build and expand. As important as the tangible experience is, we know that the online experience also incredibly valuable. Offering what we curate to that larger audience allows us to keep challenging ourselves to strive to bring a “new” experience to the world.
Contact Info:
- Address: 17 Hawkins Street
Somerville MA 02143 - Website: www.shopqos.com
- Phone: 617.718.0373
- Email: hello@shopqos.com
- Instagram: @shopqos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopqos/
Image Credit:
Henry & Mac
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