Fiddleheads consignment shop celebrates 20 years

This story originally appeared in the March 11 edition of the Canton Citizen.

Twenty years ago, Fran Pinkham of Sharon had what she called a regular job working in an office. In her free time, she liked to shop, traveling through Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Maine, seeking the stores she really loved: consignment shops. When she realized that there were no consignment shops in this area, she quit her job and in 2001 opened Fiddleheads Fine Home Consignment. Originally located next to the Canton Public Library, Fiddleheads moved to 120 Washington Street, near Babel’s Paint and Decorating, 13 years ago.

Fiddleheads owner Fran Pinkham

Fiddleheads specializes in furniture, jewelry, hand bags, rugs, tables, chairs, antiques, sunglasses, and unique high quality decorative pieces. Pinkham’s shopping trips to other consignment shops proved to be valuable learning experiences for her. She saw things that other owners did and used the same idea or decided that it was something she would never do. “They’ve never been in a consignment shop like mine,” she said of her clients.

Pinkham looks for merchandise that is of good quality, has a brand name, is a designer item, of quality craftsmanship, or something that is a good, curated mix. She does not accept brand-new merchandise or items that are dirty. She and her staff carefully go over items that customers bring in or of which they send in photos. The merchandise is carefully arranged in vignettes in a space that has wonderful lighting.

“It’s not crowded,” Pinkham said of Fiddleheads. “It’s not packed full of stuff. It smells so good. I love that you can see everything.”

Owners of consignment shops sell items that people bring in to them. At Fiddleheads, Pinkham and her staff set the prices, with 50 percent of the sale going to the owner and the other 50 percent going to the shop. Everything at Fiddleheads turns over every 90 days. If an item does not sell, it is returned to the owner.

“None of this would be possible without getting merchandise from great consigners,” Pinkham said. “We’re very grateful for consigners who trust us.”

Pinkham and her staff assess items, arrange the vignettes, clean the space, vacuum, and rotate the artwork on the walls regularly. A number of the people who work for her are local and have been with Fiddleheads for several years. “The personnel side of things can make or break you,” she said. “We’ve had some great students from Canton High.”

One of those CHS alums is Patrick Halloran, who graduated in 2012. As a student, he found out about an opening at Fiddleheads through the CHS Guidance Office. The store was at its first location; Pinkham was looking for someone to work a few days during the week after school until the store closed and on the weekend, tagging items and rearranging furniture.

As a child, Halloran took art classes and enjoyed rearranging the furniture in his bedroom. “I had always just had a knack for design and creativity,” he said. “I thought it would be a good fit.” He started at Fiddleheads as a high school student and worked there on and off during his college years.

Now the operations manager for a Boston real estate firm, Halloran has stayed on with Fiddleheads as its social media and marketing coordinator, updating the store’s website, Facebook page, and Instagram account, and he also works one day each weekend.

“Many people would think I’m crazy working on weekends,” he said. “I just love the environment. I don’t want to leave. There’s a great big social aspect to it.”

Pinkham agreed, saying that there are many regular clients who shop weekly as well as dealers who are looking for special items. “We have met so many wonderful people,” she said. “I have so many friends I have met through the store. It’s shopping therapy here. It makes me feel we’re doing it right.”

When businesses closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fiddleheads was one of them. “I was afraid we weren’t going to be able to open back up,” Pinkham said. Some relief came in the form of a landlord that she described as very understanding and generous. In the meantime, she opened an online store.

“Patrick helped me,” Pinkham said. “It’s been fabulous. We still have our online store.” Halloran said that closing the store at the start of the pandemic was both a sad and scary event, because of losing the time with customers they consider family and the loss of income. But Pinkham and the staff were heartened by the support for their small business. Alisha Wallace, another CHS grad, worked at Fiddleheads for several years before leaving to start a career as a nurse. Jeannine Lordi has worked as Pinkham’s assistant for 13 years. “She helps me run the store,” Pinkham said. “She has great eyes for approving furniture.”

Fiddleheads reopened at the end of April 2020 and customers returned to search for beautiful items for themselves and their homes. “They started coming back right away,” Pinkham said. “People were definitely nervous. [The pandemic has] affected our business. We’ve seen a decline. I feel very grateful that we were able to set up the online store. That has been great.”

The use of Facebook and Instagram taught Pinkham the importance of online connections to her business. “I thought I didn’t need social media as much as I do,” she said. “We needed to rely on that for a while. People call or come in because they saw something online. We’re definitely going to continue with more of a social media presence than we had pre-pandemic.”

Pinkham’s husband, Ed, is from northern Maine, where fiddleheads, the furled fronds of a fern, can be found. Pinkham and her family have picked them and taken them home to prepare for a meal. She decided to name her store after the green vegetable. “I wanted a name that sounded fun,” she said.

Pinkham loves that positive word-of-mouth about Fiddleheads brings consigners with good merchandise to her door. The relationships she has with those consigners, however, are what she really values. “It’s the people I’ve met and the friendships I’ve made,” she said. “That’s really been the takeaway for me.”

For more information about Fiddleheads Fine Home Consignment, go to fiddleheadsconsign.com.

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