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Holliston Vol. 1 No. 2
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Jan. 1, 2013
Happy 150 Years Fiske’s General Store BY ELIZABETH RICKETSON
BY ELIZABETH RICKETSON
“Think Fiske’s First” as stated by John Paltrineri On how many occasions have we, as parents, learned that our child has a major project due the next day and are thrown into a panic “ I have to get some poster board, paint, colored pencils, glue stick”…all that goes into creating a successful school project. More often than I care to remember I have jumped into my car and headed to Fiske’s knowing all we would need would be at our fingertips. To date, I have never been disappointed or had to go elsewhere. I am not merely speaking of poster board since my requests have been varied and numerous. Whether it was one of my children’s school projects, a birthday, a friend’s birthday, graduation, running club jingle bell’s for a festive December run and most noteworthy my daughter’s wedding at our home; Fiske’s is always a shopping destination. Driving around Holliston you often see balloons signifying the arrival of a new baby, a birthday party, bridal shower, a wedding, college graduation, and that fabulous display of red and black balloons each June marking
Louie & John Paltrineri “Goal was to have a place where the community could gather; neighbors could meet and would be a fun place to shop. Among my greatest joys is all the wonderful people I have met.” Louie Paltrineri (December 2012). “Louie was a great role model always stressing customer service and backing up products,” John told me during our interview (December 2012) 1989 Louie retired from Fiske’s and resides in Holliston with his wife Treva. Louie and Treva have six children and five live locally. In addition, there are many grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great great grandchildren!
graduation from Holliston High School. I asked John how many balloons sold annually at Fiske’s? To which he replied: He employs 4 tanks of helium and each tank will fill 450 balloons bringing us to roughly 1800 balloons filled per month. Calculate it out even further to approximately 20,000 per year times 38 years in business and well, my math might be off but that is an unbelievable amount of balloons! There are 40 colors to
choose from and least we forget the 200 Mylar balloons available. Graduation alone averages around 500 balloons and through some trial and error John has skillfully developed the perfect system for balloon pickup. Alphabetically, by last name, the bouquets of balloons line the ceiling at Fiske’s. A greeter will cordially ask for your name and retrieve your balloons for you. Yes, this is again quintessentially Fiske’s customer service but it also is a lesson learned of previ-
ous challenges with tangling of strings and balloons. I was unaware of the helium shortage that was in full swing within recent months but you wouldn’t know about based on Fiske’s since John didn’t skip a beat due to smart business practices and a great relationship with his supplier all orders were filled! When lifting your eyes upon entering the store you see this magnifi-
My own father was a WWll veteran who landed on Omaha Beach, the fourth wave, and marched across Europe. I grew up learning, loving, appreciating and respecting what I believe journalist Tom Brokaw coined “the greatest generation.” Growing up I had many primer’s on WWll but also observed a great man and father who was troubled by what he saw during battle and he called “the spoils of war” but that same man loved the country he proudly served. My siblings and I grew up grateful for the many sacrifices our military members make and hold sacred all of the rights and privileges we hold dear
FISKE
PALTRINERI
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