Medfield Teen Expands Cape Cod Business

Last summer, Medfield resident Matt Triest, 17, .

After a successful first year, spent the winter and spring expanding his store before opening on Memorial Day weekend.

“I worked very hard over the winter and spring to research and order merchandise and get the store ready for opening day,” Triest said. “I attended the New York gift fair in January, which is a huge show in the Javits Convention Center in New York City, as well as the Boston Gift Show. These shows provided me the opportunity to see some of the items I was considering ordering, and I actually placed a few orders at the show.

“After that I spent a lot of time looking through toy catalogs and doing online research. Some toys are available from multiple sources, while others proved difficult to order if you are not a Walmart. It was a great deal of work, but I am so excited about my store and the merchandise we will carry this summer. [Getting to see] families come in and let their kids pick out a new toy or create their own creative design with sand art [puts] a smile on my face.”

Triest said opening weekend was a hit and the expansion is already drawing more business.

"The weekend was awesome at the store," Triest said. "On Saturday, our daily store exceded our previous year's record daily sale amount. Then on Sunday, we broke the record again by selling 1.5 times the amount on Saturday. It was a great grand opening weekend."

Triest, currently a junior at , said he realized he needed to expand his business last July when customers were asking for merchandise he did not carry in his store.

“While I got a few new items in, I could not fit much more inventory into my 260 square foot store,” Triest said. “This is why we expanded our store to 510 square feet this spring. I wanted to carry the items that my customers wanted and items that I knew my customers would enjoy.”

So Triest got to work, reviewing each of the expansion possibilities he had.

“I knew I had options,” Triest said. “I found what I believed to be the best option for both the marketplace and my store and presented it to my landlord. It involved relocating the store next to mine and breaking down the wall between our stores resulting in the doubling of my space. Both tenants and landlord agreed that it would be a good idea.”

From there, Triest relied on the lessons he learned in his first year of business and the advice he received from many to properly grow his business for the upcoming summer.

“The first year running my business went well and I learned a few key lessons,” Triest said. “First, almost everything is negotiable and sometimes all you need to do is ask. From free displays, to product signage, free shipping, and bulk discounts – you should always ask what’s available. I also learned that buying in larger quantities, such as by the case, can save a lot on the per item cost. For example, a case which contains 12 dozen is often the same price you would be charged if you bought a partial case of just 8 dozen – this savings adds up quickly.

“I also learned the value of building a network, which only now as I look back on the last year do I fully realize how valuable this has been. I received great coaching and support from so many people and I built connections with everyone from the guy who delivers my merchandise, the sales reps at the companies I order from, my family, and other merchants, all of whom have been so helpful.”

New to Kids Creative Corner this summer is an expanded line of beach and outdoor toy items, games and crafts.

“This summer I am offering a greatly expanded line of beach and outdoor toy items, including all the classics, like green army men and boogie boards to the latest in new toys like Waboba balls,” Triest said. “I also greatly expanded my selection of crafts this year, picking up a large line of Alex brand crafts, which are perfect summer activity projects – I will be selling ducts tape kits, cap it jewelry, and much more. I added a new line of table games, which families can enjoy in the evenings at their cottages, including checkers, chess, Bananagrams, Left-Right-Center, and Tenzi. I also added a large selection of puzzles this year and will also be selling some really cool t-shirts.”

Triest says in addition to the new items he also added to the popular sand art bottles in his store, which were a big hit among children last summer.

“I added five new sand art bottles for this season,” said Triest. “I did this, because I found out that the company from whom I buy my sand art supplies acquired their biggest competitor and now sell new designs. I really like the new designs, so I added a few to my selection.”

He has also improved his store’s technology.

“I decided to go high tech this summer because with a lot more inventory I will need to track what’s selling and not selling and when I will need to re-order,” Triest said. “Also, with barcode scanning, I can now just scan items at the cash register, and the register automatically displays the price making things quicker and easier. I will continue using the Square App on my iPad for credit card transactions with my new custom built iPad stand, made by a very cool company called Tinkering Monkey.”

Helping Triest with the construction work of his expansion was his father, Mark and grandfather, Ron.

“Construction was a fun part of the process,” Triest said. “The Marketplace had their handyman remove a wall that used to divide my store from the one next to it. Once the wall was down, and we had access to the full 510 square feet, and I could start seeing my vision come to life.

“From there, the construction team consisted of three people: my dad, my grandfather and me. My dad and I removed all of our old fixtures, and basically gutted the store. My grandfather then helped us paint the entire store, including floors, walls and ceilings.”

And Triest continues to be a student of his business, learning valuable lessons that come with owning and operating a business.

“One lesson I learned in this process was, if we can build it then don’t buy it,” Triest said. “For example, I could have bought a fancy $500 checkout counter, but for a Cape Cod look, my dad and I built it our selves for a fraction of the cost. In business every penny saved is a penny earned.”

As for the future, Triest says he will be applying to colleges in the fall and hopes to be launching a t-shirt business in addition to running Kids Creative Corner.

“I plan to run these businesses through my college years and perhaps even afterwards,” Triest said. “For right now, I have my focus on having another successful summer at Kids Creative Corner and selecting the right few colleges to apply to.”

Kids Creative Corner is located at 259 Rock Landing Rd. 10B, Mashpee in The Popponesset Marketplace, which, according to Triest, is a cluster of quant buildings near the beach, which offers ice cream, coffee, pizza, seafood, mini-golf, gift shops, an art gallery and live music Thursday-Sunday during the summer.