Mother-Daughter Business Team

Cited In Book On Entrepreneurs

By Jan Howard

A mother and daughter team that owns a toy store in Woodbury is included in a new publication, Historical Encyclopedia of American Women Entrepreneurs – 1776 to the Present, written by Jeannette M. Oppedisano of Brookfield and New York state.

The book takes a historical look at women entrepreneurs from Revolutionary days to the present, from Rebecca Lukens (1794-1854), CEO of Brandywine Mill and Lukens Steel, and Eliza Pinckney (1722-1793), an agriculturist, to women today, such as Ophra Winfrey and Martha Stuart.

It all started with an interview by Samantha Brophy of Woodbury, who selected Geppetto’s Toys in Woodbury, owned by Eleanor MacDonald of Newtown and Sharon Carlson of _Bridgewater, as the subject of a college assignment.

“It was quite by accident,” Mrs MacDonald said last week. “In 1997, Sam had to do a paper on business or women entrepreneurs. She selected our store, and interviewed Sharon. I don’t think I even knew about it at the time.

“Just before December we got a call from the author of the book, Jeannette Oppedisano, who told Sharon we were included in the new book.”

Ms Oppedisano, a professor at Southern Connecticut State University, was teaching at Skidmore College at the time, and was asked to do a course on women in business. “Women need good role models,” she said. But when she tried to find a textbook, there were none, and was encouraged by a publisher to write a book.

She taught the course without a textbook by doing primary research. In addition, students were given established questions to ask during interviews and instructed to bring the completed interviews back to class. It was Ms Brophy’s interview that led to Mrs MacDonald’s and Mrs Carlson’s inclusion in Ms Oppedisano’s book.

As she gathered information, Ms Oppedisano said she became more excited. Women entrepreneurs were willing to share information and provide the role models for modern women. She also wanted to demonstrate that women and people of color were not recent entrepreneurs but had been involved in business enterprises from the beginning years of this country.

Women succeeded despite the odds against them, she said. “They did it with additional restraints. They had no legal rights.

 “Any field can become an entrepreneurship,” she said. “I’m trying to encourage women to explore the possibilities in their field of interest.”

The book, which can be used as a textbook, is designed as a library research resource, Ms Oppedisano said. Names of women to include came to the author in several ways, through primary research, seeing references in magazines, through student interviews, and other sources. “There were women I was fascinated with, those with a Holocaust background, women of color. I was looking for women who achieved against unbelievable odds.

“The difference between my work and other encyclopedias is that it is much more the story of the women,” she said.

Mrs MacDonald and Mrs Carlson’s story had the interesting twist of being a mother-daughter combination, she said.

“We were delighted,” Mrs MacDonald said of their inclusion in the book. “We’re so excited about this.”

Inclusion in the book was “quite by surprise,” Mrs Carlson said. “I was surprised she picked us. What struck her was the mother-daughter team. It was quite a shock to be put in that category. I didn’t consider myself an entrepreneur.”

Mrs Carlson said Ms Brophy interviewed her by telephone in March 1998, and it is that interview that is the basis for the story that appears in the book.

 Mrs MacDonald and Mrs Carlson started Geppetto’s in 1987 in a 900-square-foot facility in Pilgrim’s Mall in Woodbury. In 1990 they moved to a 1,500-square-foot store at their current location in Sherman Village. The store later expanded to a 3,200-square-foot facility. The store’s customer mailing list now exceeds 3,000, Mrs MacDonald said.

“The demand for this kind of store was there,” Mrs MacDonald said. “In the first place, people had to seek us out and find us, and they did.”

Mrs MacDonald and her husband, Elmer, moved to Newtown in 1967 and lived here for 12 years before moving to Brookfield for 12 years. They then moved back to Newtown. Their daughter and son, Dennis, attended Newtown schools. Prior to operating the store, Mrs MacDonald was a nurse in a doctor’s office.

Mrs Carlson, a resident of Bridgewater, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in recreational therapy. She worked at Danbury Hospital and later with her husband, Rick, a physical therapist.

“I’ve always liked toys, and through my work I had some background in toys, but it was frustrating not finding good toys,” she said. “I wanted something different.”

The store was Mrs Carlson’s idea. “We were talking on the way to Saratoga, N.Y., one day. I told here there was a great toy store over the Vermont line. It was in an old house, very quaint.” It was that specialty shop in Vermont that convinced Mrs MacDonald to join her daughter in opening the store.

“She said she could see herself doing that,” Mrs Carlson said. “We quit our jobs, and opened the store in mid-October. Things just fell into place for us.”

“Sharon’s always been a person who loves toys,” Mrs MacDonald said.

It was a personal loss that also brought about the transition to a new career, Mrs MacDonald said.  “My mother had recently passed away. It had given me a new insight into life, so I quit my job. My daughter was in recreation therapy, and knew about buying. She handles all aspects of that.”

The mother-daughter team had no experience in owning a business, except Mrs Carlson’s Junior Achievement experience in high school, five years as a salesgirl at DM Reads stores in Danbury and Derby, and a business course she took with her father. Mrs MacDonald had some financial background from working for a doctor.

“Both our husbands had good jobs,” Mrs MacDonald said. “It wasn’t a matter that this would be our livelihood. It was like a hobby.”

Mrs Carlson said that while they had the full support of their husbands, some friends felt that was not the way to enter into a business. “We didn’t do any specific surveys, we just worked on our women’s intuition.”

Women have an advantage over men in that way, she said. It’s not a matter of what’s in the best interest of the company or what the figures are telling you, she noted. “We rely on intuition. We’ve never had a business plan for achievement. We handle things as they come along.”

Mrs MacDonald said when they opened their store in Woodbury, people wondered why that location was chosen. “Sharon thought that this would go over well. We figured we’d try it and do it, and it worked.

“We have a wonderful staff of eight. They all have children, and are familiar with toys,” Mrs MacDonald said. “Our staff makes this business, and we are very grateful for that. They are so great.”

While Mrs Carlson handles all the buying, Mrs MacDonald is the bookkeeper. “We each have our thing,” Mrs MacDonald said. “Sometimes I have to pull the reins to have her hold back on buying.”

The business is a family involvement, with Mr MacDonald and Mr Carlson helping out when there are large shipments and sales. “They call themselves our gofers,” Mrs Carlson said.

The Carlson children also get involved. Sixteen-year-old Nicole works part time and during the holiday season; 10-year-old Benjamin handles the store’s popcorn machine during special events; and 6-year-old Matthew helps out with getting supplies from the second floor warehouse.

“Dad passed out cookies and hot cocoa during our moonlight madness sale before Christmas,” Mrs Carlson said. There were 100 people in line when the store reopened at 6 that day, she said.

Geppetto’s Toys does not compete with toy stores that have a larger volume, Mrs MacDonald said. “It’s impossible. We could never do it, price-wise or volume-wise. We steer clear of licensed products and TV toys.”

What the store does do is offer quality dolls, such as by Madam Alexander, puzzles, science-related and other educational toys, arts and crafts, books, Brio train sets, and much more. “We’ve had customers say we’re better than FAO Schwartz. We have a baby section and a 2- and 3-year old section. It makes it easy to shop,” she said.

To keep in touch with the latest in toys, Mrs MacDonald and Mrs Carlson attend toy shows, such as the Toy Center in New York City. “We have to do that to keep our minds open to what is out there,” Mrs MacDonald said.

There are no immediate plans to expand. “I’m happy with what’s here,” Mrs Carlson said. “We’re very happy with this location.” However, she added, they might consider a second store if the opportunity arose.

Geppetto’s Toys is open seven days a week, Monday to Thursday, 10 am to 5 pm; Friday from 10 am to 8 pm; and Sunday from noon to 4 pm.

Historical Encyclopedia of American Women Entrepreneurs – 1776 to the Present is published by Greenwood Press in Westport.