Hinkson's Looks to New Location As a Means of Retooling Business

Matthew Hersh

What best addresses a business owner's concern about lack of parking? Why, moving the business directly next to a parking garage, of course.

For Hinkson's, the long-time stationery mainstay on Nassau Street, that's exactly what the owners did.

After more than 40 years at 42 Nassau Street, Hinkson's has moved around the corner to a 1,100-square-foot commercial space in the Spring Street garage: a move that, owners say, will prove to be the best for business.

And with the move came a change in name: "Hinkson's, the Office Store," which aims to clarify the focus of the business. With about 70 percent of the store's clientele shopping on its Web site, through its catalog, or through larger business accounts, owners realized that it needed about 70 percent less retail walk-in space.

"Our store is pretty accessible and I think people are going to like it," said Andrew Mangone, who, along with John Roberto, owns Hinkson's.

"We brought in some new products and other than the furniture, lost little of what we had," Mr. Mangone said, referring to the showroom's lack of office furniture display, which, while still sold by the business, is not included in the layout of the new store.

The change is significant, however. Hinkson's former location was a corridor of sorts in an antiquated space that led to the rear area that once housed office furniture. As Hinkson's began to rely more heavily on its catalog and Web site, the old space clearly appeared too large for what was needed.

Condensed to a third of its original size, the new store has a modernized look that is more in tune with the aims of the business, Mr. Mangone said.

"Business is going to be good, I just think there is going to be a period of time when people are going to get used to what we do," he added.

But owners are encouraged that the new space, with the foot traffic from the garage, the library, and surrounding businesses, compounded with the planned five-story building slated for construction on the adjacent Spring Street surface parking lot, will better suit them than their old store had.

"It's more customer friendly," Mr. Roberto said. "Everything's brand new and traffic-wise, I hope we're going to do a lot better."

Hinkson's first eyed the Princeton Shopping Center as a possible relocation site, but that effort was nixed when some businesses there objected to the stationery store's presence.

Regardless of where they moved, however, it had long been recognized by owners that a change was needed. Mr. Roberto, whose family ‹ through Town Management, Inc. ‹ owns 40-44 Nassau Street, said they were paying rents too high to maintain a space that no longer received the foot traffic it once had.

"We do a really strong commercial business and I think there is more of an upside here," Mr. Roberto said. "We're not a restaurant, we're not a big chain store, and hopefully people will want to come in and buy what they need to buy."

The store's soft opening occurred July 5, but Mr. Mangone, Mr. Roberto, and long-time assistant store manager Lou Peredes, plan a grand opening for sometime closer to the "back-to-school" season.

In the meantime, Qdoba Grill, a Tex-Mex restaurant, began paying rent for Hinkson's former Nassau Street space on July 1. The restaurant is expected to open within six to eight months, Mr. Roberto said.