By: Juliet Schulman-Hall | JSchulman-Hall@masslive.com

This story is part of MassLive’s Reporter Road Trip series, which in July visited downtown Hudson.

The original article is linked HERE

Living in the neighboring town of Marlborough, Sarah Bertochi frequently drove past a vacant storefront in the center of Hudson’s downtown, thinking to herself that could be her future.

However, at the time, Bertochi was already overwhelmed selling her handbags and wellness products online and at fairs or markets and was afraid of opening up her first brick-and-mortar.

Bertochi let the storefront sit, driving past it for months before reaching out to the building owner in January.

“I literally stalked this storefront because I knew it was for me and it kept speaking to me and finally I decided, you know what, you only live once — just go for it,” Bertochi said.

Despite the store being vacant for a few months, the building owner told Bertochi the tenant who was supposed to lease it fell through. Bertochi contacted the building owner just in time.

Bertochi signed a lease for Feb. 1.

Over the past decade, Hudson has gone from a place with 40 vacant commercial storefronts to being named the home of America’s best Main Street in 2021, beating out over 200 competitors.

With new restaurants and cafés to the over eight-mile bike path, the downtown center has become a distinctive and pedestrian-friendly place to visit.

Bertochi said she knew Hudson was the right place for her first storefront because of how lively and supportive the town is.

“I think all the business owners here are super invested in the town and everyone wants to help everybody else succeed. It’s all about helping each other because ... everyone’s in it together,” Bertochi said.

Although Bertochi loved meeting new artists, she said she became tired of spending every Friday, Saturday and Sunday traveling for fairs or markets for the past five years and selling her products online.

“It was exhausting,” Bertochi said, referring to the markets and fairs. “And then whenever the weather doesn’t cooperate, that’s never a good thing.”

Bertochi creates sustainable wax canvas bags using natural cotton and linen or recycled fabrics and hand prints her own designs with eco-friendly water-based inks. She also sells her own wellness products, such as flax seed and lavender-infused hot neck wraps or eye pillows.

Bertochi said she is able to create her own products in the back of her store when there isn’t much foot traffic to sell in her store or in the 72 other stores which carry her products.

While Bertochi intended to open the store in March, a pipe burst in February which delayed her store’s opening until April. Although her timeline changed, Bertochi said it worked out for the better because she was able to have extra time to prepare for her opening. The building owner also redid the bathroom and storage space in the back of store and refinished the floors due to the flooding.

After a few months in business, Bertochi said business has been steady but she is looking forward to the holiday season when she expects to get more business.

Getting help

Bertochi said creating her storefront was easier than it might’ve been if she did it alone, in part because she was part of a free year-long business accelerator program run by EforAll. EforAll is a Massachusetts nonprofit organization which partners with communities across the United States to help under-represented individuals start their own businesses.

After applying and getting accepted into the program, she was able to learn more about how to create her own business and ask for advice from her three mentors. She enrolled in the program in May of 2022 and ended in June of 2023.

“It was helpful to have the additional business background and just develop a great network with the other business owners,” said Bertochi.

Beyond selling her original and homemade products, Bertochi also sells 58 other brands in her store with a focus on local and sustainable products.

Bertochi also has a once-a-month artist showcase where artists can exhibit and sell their work.

“One of my goals of opening the store was to pay it forward, to come support other local makers and brands,” Bertochi said.

She also tries to give back in other ways. In May, for instance, Bertochi asked artists to decorate bucket hats to be auctioned off in support of Hudson Veteran Services.

“For me, it’s all about doing my little part to contribute — I mean, you only have one planet earth, right?” Bertochi said, referring to the business’ mission. “So even though I have a very small footprint as a business as well as personally, my mentality is if I could do one little thing to help then why not?”

Sarah Bertochi Handmade is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.