New Business Offers Organic Products From Berkshires & Beyond
 Lisa Harrison has opened online storefront that offers organic clothing and products. |
ADAMS, Mass. — A year ago, Lisa Harrison was running high-tech imaging equipment. Now she's selling organic products — with a high-tech twist.
Her new ecommerce business, Clovershire.com, offers natural products from the Berkshires and around the country with a click.
The Adams resident said the idea came out of her own difficulties trying to find all the products she was looking for.
"I wanted to have a website where a busy mom could go on and she could pick up cleaning products, maybe a toy for Easter, or a collar for a dog," Harrison said. "I wanted to do this because when I was shopping online for organic products you had to go all over the place if you wanted different items."
Harrison sells a long list of organic and natural merchandise, such as products for infants and children, clothing, health and beauty products, pet items, and guarding products. Totes come from Pittsfield's Blue Q and soap from Delights of the Earth in Westhampton. More unique items include hemp greeting cards with seeds embedded in them. When they are buried they grow flowers.
She said she is able to sell a large variety of goods for reasonable prices by utilizing drop shipping. When someone orders something from her online store she contacts the drop-shipping wholesaler who sends the product to the customer.
Harrison, however, wants her store to have a personal feel that is more anchored in the Berkshires. She said she would like to support and exhibit local organic products made in the Berkshires on her website.
"That was kind of my goal to give local vendors an opportunity to show their products not only in Berkshire County but the whole country," she said. "There are lot of very talented people in Berkshires, and I would lie to be able to have their products online because it gives the website some personality."
She said any vendors interested in selling through Clovershire.com can contact her.
Harrison was director of medical imaging when North Adams Regional Hospital closed last March. She and her husband both lost their jobs. Her husband found work but she began to explore new career options. She considered opening up a shop, but felt there was more opportunity in ecommerce.
She said after visiting an organic store in Northampton and witnessing all of the foot traffic, she thought creating an online store that sells natural items could just work.
Harrison wants stay online and expand her offering, depending on how successful things go.
"There is not a lot of overhead, I don’t have to have that physical stock, and the most it is taking up is the space on a website," she said. "You have a lot of flexibility on the products and I could never have that range of products in a store."
Harrison said there is a real need and want for living more healthy and organically. She said for this reason she focuses on getting products that are not just organic, but are created and packaged organically.
"I think people are making healthier choices now, and I think that’s a smart thing," she said. "We have put a lot of the stress with even just the containers of products. You throw them in the garbage and it takes 10 to 15 years for something to decompose.
She said many of the products she sells will decompose or are made or packaged in recycled plastic.
"I think it is very important that people start thinking along the lines of not only what you are using but what you are throwing away, too," she said.
Clovershire.com’s mission statement is simple: To provide customers with "high quality organic and 'earth friendly' products at a reasonable price to customers interested in promoting a healthy environment and lifestyle."
Tags: new business, ecommerce,
