In this day and age, how does a company define success? Profits? Product quality? Years in business? If you think about it, there’s no easy answer. Even in the world of commerce, success is not equal among entrepreneurs; it’s a highly personalized concept that, especially in the long run, transcends salaries and financial tallies. It can range from the launch of a new location to surviving an economic downturn to the not-always-so-simple concept of fostering a cast of happy employees.
Although their industries vary, the following North Shore business icons have one thing in common: They put their customers first and mention profits last. They have all proven themselves against the test of time by either evolving or staying the same on their own terms. Patrons have benefited from their savvy and determination for half a century or longer, and the hope for their continued success is a mutual feeling.
Photo by Peg Raciti
CLAM BOX
The seafood arrives in the morning by truck, with Marina Aggelakis (everyone calls her “Chickie”) checking each shipment personally. “I’m definitely hands-on,” she admits. “I feel that’s important in the food industry, and I’m very particular about the quality of my food. I never switch to lesser quality because of price.”
Any aficionado of fried seafood on the North Shore knows the Clam Box in Ipswich. It began in 1935, when the original owners served ice cream in clam boxes until the second owner, Dick Greenleaf, introduced fried clams in 1938. Throughout the 1940s and ’50s, the restaurant did mostly drive-up service, and was ultimately considered a straightforward tourist stop.
Admittedly, Aggelakis, the Clam Box’s fourth owner, who learned the ropes of food service while working for her family’s restaurant, the Agawam Diner in Rowley, is “not good” with change. She kept both the building—unmistakable for its unique clam box–shaped turret complete with four flaps—and the recipes the same, with the exception of upgrading kitchen equipment. The result is that returning customers are always greeted with the same hot, crispy, briny fried clams that never disappoint.
Aggelakis prefers Ipswich clams, New Bedford scallops, and fresh haddock, and buys only from the Ipswich Shellfish Company and Savage Seafood in Rowley. The clams come shucked in gallons, and the battering process begins with a dunk into straight evaporated milk, then into a three-to-one ratio of corn flour to pastry flour, and then into a fryer filled with a blend of vegetable and beef oils. Changing the oil twice a day is another of the owner’s quality mandates.
While Aggelakis is happy to discuss how she makes her tartar sauce (“We use sweet relish, not dill”) and how the onion rings are made from scratch, the one recipe she will not reveal is that for her famous coleslaw. Only the chefs and her son Dimitri, who works alongside her, know that one. And although Dimitri is in line to take over, his mom, at 68, doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon.
Photo by Paul Lyden
HAWTHORNE HOTEL
No sole person or company established Salem’s famed Hawthorne Hotel. Interestingly, it was the result of a public service drive to create, in the words of Frank Poor, (a business owner and community leader at the time), a “modern hotel for the business traveler.” Shares were sold in the early 1920s—more than half a million dollars’ worth of stock was sold in one week in 1923—and the community-financed property opened in 1925 to citywide fanfare and a parade.
Since then, the hotel’s domineering brick façade has indeed greeted business travelers, but also, more in recent decades, tourists drawn to experiencing Salem’s Puritan-versus-witch years and working waterfront. Set on the edge of Salem Common, the hotel is close to some of the city’s most frequented cultural sites, including the Witch Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s House of Seven Gables.
Owned by the Harrington family for the past 30 years, Hawthorne Hotel has undergone a variety of renovations. “Originally, since it catered to the single businessman, it had 150 small rooms,” explains general manager Patrick Cornelissen. Modernization efforts resulted in a boutique-style allotment of 93 more generously sized rooms, four of which are located in the adjacent Fidelia Bridges Guest House.
The hotel has hosted George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, Walter Cronkite, and Bette Davis, among other dignitaries and celebrities. Salem-themed Bewitched episodes and scenes from the film Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro (who both stayed on the property during filming), were also shot onsite.
With two restaurants and a recently expanded grand ballroom, which hosts about 100 weddings per year, the hotel is continually adding to its amenities; however, most guests are drawn to its 20th-century charm. “We have something that no other hotel can buy, and that is history,” says Cornelissen. “If you are visiting Salem, chances are you are interested in the city’s past, particularly its witch trials. Staying at the Hawthorne really helps capture that historic mindset.”
Photo by Sarah Jordan McCaffery
SMOLAK FARMS
While a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying biology, Michael Smolak received the sad and shocking news that his father had died of a heart attack. Smolak quickly returned to his family’s 160-acre farm in North Andover “just to stabilize things,” he recalls. “Forty-five years later, I’m still stabilizing things,” he chuckles.
The Smolak family has owned the farm, which was originally a dairy facility, since 1927, when Smolak’s grandparents, who had emigrated a decade earlier from Poland, bought it from a Scottish family. Various structures on the property date back 300 years. Smolak’s parents, who married in 1947 and had five children (Michael is the third child and first son), worked alongside his grandparents, selling their produce and milk wholesale.
Although Smolak sacrificed his academics for the farm, he never lost his aptitude for study and research, and the result is that he is constantly developing new business strategies, eliminating inefficiencies, and testing out new crops. “In 1973, we auctioned off the dairy herd. Dairy was a losing proposition that drained a lot of assets; it was tough because cows need to be milked 365 days a year no matter the circumstances,” observes Smolak. The farmer turned his attention to fruit trees, laying the groundwork for the orchards that draw thousands of visitors when in season.
“My business model has been to plant a series of crops that people can pick themselves: strawberries, raspberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches, apples, plums, pumpkins, Christmas trees,” he says. “Every month, from June through the end of the year, there’s something to pick or cut down. My whole theory is that I’m not selling a commodity; I’m selling an experience,” continues the farmer. “There are so few things that people can rely on as being real these days, and it doesn’t get any more real than visiting a farm.”
With a 300-plus-member CSA program to maintain, Smolak recently purchased a farm in Boxford for his CSA’s vegetable fields. His new harvests include Chinese chestnuts (“They don’t require fertilizer or pesticides and, unlike apples, their quality is unaffected by a fall to the ground”); table grapes; and the haskap, or honeyberry, which “combines the flavor of a raspberry and blueberry and is chock-full of antioxidants,” he explains.
Sometimes, Mother Nature is at odds with his crops: A deep freeze this past February damaged the buds on his peach and apple trees, for example. However, Smolak rolls with the punches, knowing that his farm’s offerings, from hayrides to the on-site bakery’s famed cider donuts, are diversified enough to offset certain losses. “You just never know,” he concedes. “Agriculture has all of the issues of a small business plus a heavy dose of weather-related problems.”
Early frosts and unexpected droughts aside, Smolak is at peace with his decision to continue his family’s farming legacy. “I’m happy with how it turned out,” he admits. “In my opinion, you choose to be either happy or miserable, and happy is a whole lot more fun.”
Photo by Paul Lyden
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LONG’S FINE JEWELERS
A diamond might be forever, but that doesn’t mean a jewelry company is. Long’s Fine Jewelers—founded by jeweler and silversmith Thomas Long in Boston in 1878—has experienced a couple different owners during its century-plus history. In the mid-1900s, it ended up in the hands of Canadian jewelry chain Birks, only to be purchased by current owner and CEO Bob Rottenberg in 1990.
The Rottenberg family has been in the jewelry business for generations, with Bob’s father, Hy, operating Ross Jewelers in Lynn. Bob worked for his father, and in turn, Bob’s two sons, Judd and Craig, now work alongside him. Judd is a gemologist and manager of Long’s Burlington showroom, while Craig, a graduate of MIT’s Sloan School of Management, oversees the company’s finances and marketing as president.
“I grew up in the business, working holidays and summers,” says Craig, who took his own path post-college toward finance before returning to Long’s 13 years ago. “I helped start a company and worked on Wall Street for a while, and as a result was able to reenter the family business with a broader perspective,” he relates.
Pooling their respective strengths, the Rottenbergs have grown Long’s into no less than a jewelry institution, with four locations—Boston’s Financial District, the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Burlington, and Peabody—and a new showroom opening in Nashua, New Hampshire, this fall. Their dominance has involved not just keeping up with the times but spotting and preparing for future trends.
“A big part of our business right now is pre-owned jewelry,” says Craig. “People walk into our stores every day to sell items they no longer want, and from a buyer’s perspective, a vintage piece, whether Victorian or Art Deco, represents something unique, something differentiated. We also offer custom design, which is particularly popular for engagement ring and wedding band customers.”
Long’s is known for its large, comfortable stores and non-commission sales environment, but with 1,500 pieces available online, customers can even shop from the comfort of their own homes. From Swiss watches to fashion jewelry, the company prefers being approachable and offers something for every price point, from a couple hundred dollars to a couple hundred thousand dollars.
“What sets us apart is that we believe in being someone’s jeweler for life,” summarizes Craig. “Our customers have to trust that what we are saying about our products is true, and our goal is to continually live up to this trust.”
Photo by Peg Raciti
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SMITH MOTOR SALES
Outside, row upon row of shiny, sleek Mercedes vehicles glint in the sun, waiting for their future handlers with dignified patience. Inside, the busy dealership bustles with managers, sales staff, and finance specialists, all working toward the same goal: pairing the right car with the right driver for the right price, and then, post-sale, maintaining that vehicle to its utmost potential.
Dating back to its initial River Street showroom in Haverhill (it moved just once, across the street, 17 years ago), Smith Motor Sales has been steered by its namesake Smith family for an impressive 78 years. Even now, owner John Smith is intimately involved in the day-to-day operations. “John is here daily working with long-term customers and helping build rapport with new shoppers as well as staff members,” says General Manager Jim Buckley.
Smith’s leadership sets the tone for the dealership’s dedication to service. “Building relationships is far more important than pushing a sale, so we try and put buyers at ease,” says Buckley. “Relationships breed familiarity, leading to customer loyalty, which is vital to our success.”
With a host of awards to its name, including a 2016 Silver Stevie Award for Company of the Year and a 2016 BIG Innovation Award, Smith Motor Sales boasts an extremely low turnover rate in its employee ranks. “It’s nice for customers to come in for a service or purchase and see a familiar face. This has a big impact on their experience,” reveals Buckley.
An exclusive Mercedes-Benz dealer since July 1964, Smith is now one of the brand’s oldest sales points in the country. For its longevity, the dealership credits only one thing: its customers, new and repeat, whether they pick their ideal model online or prefer an old-fashioned meander around the lot.