106 Years, 5 Owners, One Bridal Shop | Cristen Rosinski's Story

Cristen Rosinski didn't grow up wanting to own a bridal shop. She grew up working for her dad's blacksmith business, lost her job in the 2008 recession, and two months after asking a store owner for a job, she owned the store instead.

Sixteen years later, Cristen owns Aliber's Bridal in Greenfield, Massachusetts, a store that's 106 years old and has passed through five owners since it opened. In this episode, she walks through what it actually took to buy a business with no bridal experience and no savings, how a privately financed deal with the previous owner worked (and what she'd tell another owner considering the same route), the building fire in 2015 that filled her store with smoke damage during buying season, and why her mother, who once sewed her wedding dress, is now her head seamstress.

This conversation is a reminder that experience isn't always the thing that qualifies you. Sometimes it's the willingness to ask the question nobody else is asking.

In this episode, we cover:
✔️ How Cristen went from working for her father's blacksmith business to owning one of the oldest bridal stores in the country
✔️ What it looks like to buy a business through private financing, and the risks on both sides of that deal
✔️ Surviving a building fire during peak buying season and dealing with insurance for months afterward
✔️ Why community with other bridal shop owners has kept her in the business for 16 years
✔️ What's next for Aliber's Bridal, including their upcoming Mother's Trunk Show and National Bridal Sale

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 — Welcome to the BOSS Podcast
0:24 — Meet Cristen Rosinski of Aliber's Bridal
1:01 — A store with 106 years of history and five owners
1:52 — Meeting a descendant of the original owning family
2:32 — Three generations of brides, one wall of signatures
4:36 — What Cristen was doing before she bought a bridal shop
5:41 — How a job search turned into a business purchase
6:20 — Buying a business with no savings: the private financing story
6:58 — Her mom joins as head seamstress
9:14 — The risk and reward of privately financed business deals
12:13 — Sixteen years of growth and a changing bridal industry
12:38 — The hardest year: a building fire and smoke damage
14:31 — Navigating insurance during a business interruption
15:50 — What keeps Cristen in the bridal business after 16 years
17:51 — Why community with other bridal owners matters
19:19 — Where to follow Cristen and Aliber's Bridal
19:52 — What's next: a Mother's Trunk Show and National Bridal Sale

Follow Aliber's Bridal:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alibersbridal/

Website: www.alibersbridal.com

Have a question, a topic you want covered, or want to be a guest on the show? DM us on Instagram @bridalownersuccess 

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