Today we’d like to introduce you to Marina Kalb.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 2005, my dear friend Kristina Lyons and I decided to start a small trunk show business with a curated collection of hip, easy to wear clothing and accessories. We had both been frustrated by the lack of any kind of store that offered an eclectic assortment of merchandise that appealed to our aesthetic. We held trunk shows at the homes of people who enthusiastically embraced our concept, and we donated a portion of our proceeds to the hostess’ favorite charity. Word got around, and many friends of friends would ask us to have more trunk shows. In the fall of 2007, we were approached by a friend whose company owns an outdoor shopping center, now called “The Street” in Chestnut Hill, which is about 20 minutes from Back Bay. There was a large store that was empty, and he asked us if we would like to try a pop-up store for the holiday season. We moved our rolling racks and some furniture into 5000 square feet, and Portobello Road was born.
Our name is inspired by the real Portobello Road in London, which is a fantastic street with shops and stands, selling everything from old French linens to silver fish forks to toothbrushes. It is a treasure trove of goods, and a delight to stroll. We wanted the same feeling in our store: customers could come in and wander through stacks of tea towels from France, perfume collections from Capri, jewelry from all over the world, bags and belts handmade in California, Morocco, Italy, Spain, and Brooklyn…basically someone would be able to find something special for themselves or a friend that would delight them and make their shopping experience much more fun (and productive) under one roof.
We scour the world (starting in our own immediate community) looking for authentic, unique pieces to charm, inspire and scintillate: the wafting scents of handmade candles burning; the abundance of beautifully placed gifts and trinkets; the creative wall hangings; the vast selection of clothing, shoes, belts, handbags, and scarves; and the wide array of beautiful jewelry. Everything in the store has been chosen by hand, personally by us, and in many cases, it has been customized for us: the leather for handbags and belts and sneakers has been chosen by my team and me, and is unique only to our store; I hand-pick the jewelry and in many cases, I customize those pieces as well. In fact, Rene Escobar has named a bracelet after me, Nancy Rabinowitz who designs Nathan&Moe has a necklace named after ne, and there is a “marina” earring within Miguel Ases’ collection
Our logo is a row house, similar to the ones you would find on Portobello Road in London. It represents that we do not stand alone, but are part of a community. Our tag line is “shop with a soul,” with reflects our mission to care about and support not only local designers, but also so many artisan communities across the world who will receive back the money on sales of their unique handiwork. In addition, we donate a portion of our proceeds to organizations that are meaningful to us, particularly around causes that support underprivileged women and children. Within our own community, we have contributed to many deserving groups, including Dress for Success, Pine Street Inn, Brookline Mental Health, Runway for Recovery, and organizations that fund inner city youth, public health and education, and many others. We have collected items to send for hurricane and disaster relief both in our country and in countries where people are suffering due to natural disasters (Haiti) and human disasters (Syria). We also support many fair trade collectives in third world countries who need such things as eyeglasses, women’s hygienic products, shoes and clothing, to name a few. We also choose to support designers who have their own meaningful causes–I have bought jewelry from an LA designer in large part because of her commitment to use some of her proceeds to eradicate human sex trafficking and who has just built a children’s school in South America. In addition, I support jewelers who use recycled products and ethically-mined diamonds. These are just a few of the things that we care about and support through our business.
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?
We are Portobello Road, but that road isn’t always smooth, just as in life. We started on a shoe string budget, using our own credit cards. Our store, now in its third location within plaza, has about 1700 square feet of selling space. That is a lot of space to fill, and our inventory numbers reflect that. Fortunately, we continue to do well, because we fill a much-needed niche in our community: a one-stop shop that is filled with beautifully and carefully curated items.
With a big store and a limited budget, my manager Sara and I are always pinch hitting. Whether it’s that an alarm has gone off in the middle of the night, or staff members are sick, we are the ones who have to be there. That takes away from the daily work that we do, but its part of the deal.
Because we are a lifestyle store, we offer many categories of merchandise, from French tea towels to beeswax candles to hostess gifts to a large array of jewelry, bags, hats, shoes, and scarves, many of which are unique to our store and/or handmade. We have to scour to find these items, since so many small designers are turning to Etsy and Amazon to try to stay afloat, and the larger designers and collections have their own websites (along with their own discounts) which makes it challenging to sell the same products. This in turn sends out further out into the field to try to find new products that are meaningful and not oversaturated online.
Although online shopping has impacted the larger stores, we have not been affected in the same way, because shopping at Portobello Road is an experience. The customer service and warmth and knowledge that our staff has is without parallel, and customers love to come in to visit us and shop. They also can trust that we are finding items that have a meaningful story behind them, are well-made, well-priced, and unique.
Social media has also challenged us (at least those of us over 30!) and we are always trying to come up with ways to let people know what we offer and where we are. We have a website and a robust Instagram, but because we are so hands-on in the store, we cannot spend as much time as we would like on getting our name out there. Luckily, there are a few bloggers and others (like you) who are interested in us, and they are so helpful to promoting us to those who might not know about us (so thank you for that!!)
We have also lived through two moves, which is never easy, but our staff is amazing and we all roll our sleeves up and get involved. We went from the pop-up space to a much smaller space within the plaza, and now are finally space that we designed ourselves and which reflects our aesthetic from the tin-tiled ceiling to the huge blue doors that are our signature.
We have also lived through the renovation of the spaces around us, which involved cranes, ladders, scaffolding and lots of construction that made some people think we were closed. Luckily, the new spaces around us are almost complete and will make for an amazing destination experience.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am most proud of the fact that we have established ourselves as a destination in our community that is more than just a shrine to consumerism. We care about our mission, which I have tagged as #shoplocalactglobal. This really encapsulates who we are.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in Hong Kong in the 1960’s, one of 4 daughters of CBS News correspondent Bernard Kalb, who covered the Vietnam War for CBS during Walter Cronkite’s tenure. We traveled to many places in the world, including a couple of years in Paris, where my parents taught us to be inquisitive of the places around us, and respectful of the cultures we were exposed to. I also had a wild imagination, and was a bossy sister. I would create a “store” in our playroom, complete with credit cards and money that I would cut from paper, and I would “sell” things to my sisters. My mother tells the story that I once came to her and told her I needed new shoelaces. She said ok. I then said, well, if I have new shoelaces, I think I need a new pair of shoes to go with them. Ok….And, if I have a new pair of shoes, don’t you think I need some new socks? And so on, all the way to the hat on my head!
I ended up following in my father’s footsteps and spent nearly 20 years in the journalism field, 16 of them in documentary films. When I had two young boys, it was time to take a back seat, so I ran the production company I worked for, and that is where I learned how to be a small business owner. Going into the retail world was similar to my days as a researcher and producer–you need to find good sources, check them out, make sure they are solid, and then share them with others. It’s not that much different with what we bring into our store.
Pricing:
- We have a wide array of price points, typically starting at around $50 and going up to several thousand for handmade 18k and diamond jewelry
Contact Info:
- Address: 55 Boylston Street
Chestnut Hill Mass 02467 - Website: www.portobelloroadusa.com
- Phone: 6172642020
- Email: marina@portobelloroadusa.com,
- Instagram: @portobelloroadboston
- Facebook: portobelloroadboston
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