Help Jennifer Save Her Cheese Shop

Hello,

My name is Jennifer. I am the owner of the North Falmouth Cheese Shop on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The shop offers imported and domestic specialty cheeses, and all the additional items needed for entertaining with an impressive array of delicious items for simple or elaborate charcuterie boards. I opened my business nine years ago and against many odds, I have kept the doors open in the small and somewhat seasonal community where I am located. I love my customers, and they really helped my business grow from something very simple to something wonderful.

Over my nine years, I have had incredible employees and have sourced many products from local and regional small businesses. We actually did very well through the Covid pandemic by keeping our shop safe to be in and bringing in items that larger stores were struggling to keep in stock. We continued to do okay for the following couple of years, and despite health and family issues, I worked to keep the business operating as smoothly I could for my community which sits a bit of a distance to larger chain grocery stores.

I experienced a drop in business through the beginning of 2023 which dropped even more in 2024 as peoples' expenses and debts were increasing. Having been aware of the economic challenges that consumers were dealing with, I realized that my featured product offering of specialty foods fell into the luxuries of life and not necessities of people's daily food needs. My 2024 summer was slower than summers in the past, but still steady enough to pay my staff and cover my expenses. Included in my expenses are two monthly loan payments attributed to the health and personal issues I had in previous years. For many years I have been challenged with worsening psoriatic arthritis in my hands that required surgeries and medications that had side effects that complicated my ability to work. My arthritic hands have left me relying more on staff to do work I could do myself when I started the business which has created higher payroll expenses than my business was structured to support.

As soon as last summer ended, business dropped so significantly that I have been falling behind more and more with each passing month. Even these past winter holidays were barely over 70% of what I did for business during holidays of the past, and a cold spell in January and February made things even worse almost leaving me bankrupt.

I am in need of paying off vendor bills from the holidays and the higher utility bills from this winter. I am struggling to stock up my shelves to have product to sell, and to keep my staff paid until the warm weather in April and May brings in more customers. This is the first winter that I have experienced such a seasonal drop in business, so I was unprepared for it.

I would be so grateful for any help you can give me. I have worked hard my entire life, and I will be 61 this year. My lease ends on December 31st this year with no guarantee it will be renewed. I am just hoping that if I cannot continue with the shop, that I can keep my staff on until then and finish out my time with my business at least having all my debts paid. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I know I am not alone in life's struggles. God bless you.