Monastery Greetings

Monastic Bliss

From his living room at home, Will began working at what he thought would be a rather small business - delivering products made by hand at monasteries across the country. His star product? Trappist Preserves, made by Trappist monks. He surrounds his delicious core products with hard-to-find books on religious and spiritual subjects as well as a host of other products, all made in cloistered communities.

There was more of a market for his divine products than he thought.

Will’s burgeoning mail order business, Monastery Greetings, quickly outgrew his living room. So he searched for commercial space. His search took him to ShoreBank Enterprise Cleveland’s Glenville Enterprise Center. It was hard to find the small amount of commercial space he initially needed at affordable rates. But SEC was willing to lease him the space he needed at a rate he could afford. With an onsite loading dock, shipping pallets in and his orders out became easy. And growth became more manageable.

Today, Monastery Greetings employs up to 15 people from the community and leases office space, storage space and, of course, assembly space for order fulfillment. Will couldn’t have grown into his growing business without a little help.

“They’ve (SEC) been really supportive of my business,” Will explains. “I have found everything I need to grow my business, from reasonable rates, dedicated people, even furniture. And they’re flexible. I pay different rates for the different spaces I lease, which really helps, because I can’t afford to pay premium rates just for storage space. And I’ve found great employees right here in the neighborhood.

“ShoreBank Enterprise Cleveland is more than a landlord for me,” Will continues. “I feel very comfortable here, especially since they reside here at the Glenville Enterprise Center, too. I know they’re not going anywhere. They’re here for the long term, not just for the quick buck. Which means I’m here for the long haul, too. There’s security in that.”