The Concord Cheese Shop celebrates its 40th year on Walden Street this year. I became the 3rd owner in 2003, following the footsteps of Bill Barber who purchased the store in 1976, the same year I started in the cheese business, working after school in Caldwell, New Jersey. The Cheese Shop was a franchise at the time, with a peak of approximately 90 stores around the nation. A core group of the very best of these stores prospers today, including Concord and Wellesley, MA, Williamsburg, VA, Indianapolis, IN, Carmel and Beverley Hills, CA and Ridgewood, NJ. They all operate on the same principles of total customer service, lots of sampling, and a friendly atmosphere provided by expert staff.

I first visited the Concord Cheese Shop in 1988, while working for a local importing company, hoping to sell Bill cheese. When I walked in, saw the banners over the aisles, and the cheeses piled on the counter, I felt like I had come home. I met Madeleine, aka “Madame” who had been a fixture here since before Bill owned the store, and she flirted with me as she had done with everyone for the previous 20 years. I continued to visit the store occasionally and then more frequently when Ellen, a college friend, became the general manager. In 1998, Ellen told me I should put an apron on and come work retail again. Nearly 15 years had passed since I last worked behind a retail counter, but she assured me that, like riding a bike, it would come back to me as soon as I tied my apron strings. I worked a handful of days during each of the next three holiday seasons, taking vacation time from my day job in Lowell. When saying goodbye on Christmas Eve 2000, Bill and Louise told me the store was for sale. As I raced home to my wife and month old daughter, all I could think of was the opportunity to buy the Concord Cheese Shop. Later the next year, I had a Purchase and Sale agreement in hand, and I would be the General Manager to own until we could come to a closing date. I owe my deepest gratitude to Bill and Louise Barber for their patience and generosity which enabled me to purchase their business. As they told me at the time, they wanted to preserve the business for the good of the community, and felt strongly that I would not change its overall atmosphere and commitment to the community.

That feeling of community continues. Before becoming the owner, I got to know many of the customers, and feel the community spirit that flows in and around the Cheese Shop and downtown Concord. Customers are friends, and are treated as guests. We love turning people on to new cheeses, wines and great foods. It is a pleasure to serve them, and hope they enjoy their time here at the Shop. Upon becoming the owner, I continued to appreciate the community spirit, supporting over 100 organizations per year, and donating over $10,000 each year to community organizations and charities. I also proudly support the business community, teaming up with fellow business owners in the successful fight against CitiBank, and actively participating with the Chamber of Commerce. I love teaching my classes here at the Shop with Middlesex Community College, and doing the occasional private wine and cheese tastings in customers’ homes. I feel privileged to be a part of the Concord community, and honored that it supports the Cheese Shop with continued patronage.