A York, Maine gift store owner has expanded her horizons with a new venture in the nearby coastal town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Since 2017, Michelle Corgan has owned and managed Bell Farm Shops, a retail operation in York, Maine, focused on gifts, decor, local name-drop souvenirs and more. With business booming in recent years, Corgan says she felt ready to expand.
“We have grown our business, have a good staff and have found some strong product lines that work well,” she explains. “We thought we should try to find another outlet for them.”
In late November 2024, Corgan opened Perch + Petal as a new storefront in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, just a few miles away from Bell Farm Shops. She says the new shop features plenty of nature themes and carries a variety of gifts, including candles, jewelry, soap, lotion, stationery, games, books, kid & baby merchandise as well as some Portsmouth-focused souvenirs such as magnets and ornaments. The store also carries some New Hampshire-made merchandise like Joy Lane Farms lotions and quinohome candles, with plans to add more locally made gifts.
“Our selections are very flower and garden focused,” says Corgan. “What truly makes us unique is the small garden statuary, garden decor and backyard bird supply.”
Corgan had considered opening another store for a few years. When she saw a “for lease” sign on the storefront in Portsmouth, she says she immediately inquired about it and signed paperwork within a week or two.
“We got the shop up and running quickly,” Corgan adds. “Our lease started Nov. 15 and we were open for Black Friday. It was important to us to be open for the holiday season. It involved a ton of help from friends and family. We also were lucky enough to find some amazing new employees to help us get set up, too.”
Corgan jokes that she “lived on Facebook Marketplace” in November, trying to find fixtures for the new Portsmouth shop. She says she quickly stocked the shop with extra backstock inventory from Bell Farm Shops, too.
Although Corgan says she is now busy managing the two gift shops, she notes that she has a great manager and assistant manager at Bell Farm Shops as well as seasoned staff in support roles and new employees at Perch + Petal.
“It’s been a bit challenging to split the time, but it’s been manageable so far,” she says. “My goal is to create happy places for people.”
Corgan says she grew up loving to shop in adorable gift shops. It brought her so much joy that she wanted to spread that joy to others.
“Being a retailer in today’s economic environment is extremely challenging, but I want to keep fighting to be a little guy that survives, she says. “I want to continue to see thriving downtowns and communities with interesting shops. Another goal that is important to me is to spread awareness about backyard birding as a hobby, which is proven to be stress reducing and great for the environment.”
