Mother Lives Her Dream

By Amy McKeever

Lisa Cramer watched as a customer took a pocket book off the shelf, tossed it over her shoulder, the price tag still dandling off the handle, and walked out of the store.

Shocked, Cramer trailed the woman out of the store, and then asked the woman if she just stole the pocket book.

The accused woman handed the purse back to Cramer, who, then, called the police. Police questioned the woman about the theft and the theft of a more expensive pocketbook a week prior, but she denied both.

An hour later, the same woman called Cramer, claiming her housekeeper found the purse stolen earlier. Cramer told the woman to drop the bag off at the police department.

Cramer, 49, deals with theft often as the owner of A Passion for Fashion, a four year-old successful fashion boutique in Abington, Massachusetts.

The boutique is located on Route 18, 170 Bedford St, where Cramer sells lightly used clothing and accessories. On average Cramer has 40 to 50 customers, ranging from children to senior citizens, per weekday and more on Saturday

“I enjoy people and I’ve met so many great people, so that’s probably the most fun, and I love seeing the things that come in,” Cramer said.

Cramer lives in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts with her husband Tim, 51, and her two sons, Ryan, 25, and Pat, 22.

“I’ve been interested in fashion probably since I was a little girl. I’ve always liked clothes and shopping and seeing the latest trends,” Cramer said.

Cramer, however, has not always found the same joy in her job. Before opening A Passion for Fashion, she was a secretary for an attorney’s office for 14 years, and involved with home heath care for 1 ½ years.

“It was depressing. I knew it wasn’t something I could do long term,” Cramer said of the earlier jobs.

When her sons grew older, Cramer let people know she planned to open a consignment shop, asking for gently used clothing, accessories and jewelry. Within two weeks, she had enough inventory to open the shop.

“It’s always been in the back of my mind and then, as the boys got older and I knew I had more free time, I decided if this is something I’m going to do, I should probably do it now,” Cramer said.

Cramer decided to open a consignment shop rather than a regular store because she thought it involved less risk and didn’t include a large workload. She buys her products for A Passion for Fashion from other stores, gets inventory online and through consignment from her friends, family and customers.

“There are other consignment shops in Abington but, for the most part, we work together. If I don’t have something at my shop I’ll say have you tried another shop and we work together in that way,” Cramer said.

Cramer said she is not looking to expand the store and plans to reevaluate in a year what will be will be the future for A Passion for Fashion.

“I have to really sit down and talk to Tim and say what should we do. I have someone interested in buying it, so that’s an option,” Cramer said.