Columnists :: In Business
Pinkergreen not scared of falling into the red after South End move by Brandon Simes
Managing EditorWednesday Jan 7, 2009 The name "Pinkergreen" sounds like an amalgamation of the classic consultancy firm and a colorful splash on a middle school art student’s page. As it turns out, that’s not so far off.
Pinkergreen Design, formed by two Boston University graduates in 2001, is a creative consultancy that specializes in branding. Not necessarily in David D’Alessandro’s harsh "Brand Warfare" sense, but in a unique style that meshing a creative background with the goal of economic success and expansion produces.
In that sense Pinkergreen’s two owners, Melissa Jordan and Kelley Shaw-Wade, packed up shop and moved to the South End at the end of 2008, a decision about which the two remain ecstatic.
"We’re pretty much thrilled," said Shaw-Wade of the move to the 46 Waltham St. building Pinkergreen inhabits, which she said is filled with artists. "It’s nice to be in an environment where everyone is inspiring each other."
Jordan and Shaw-Wade decided to move their business to the heart of Boston because of their relationships with the City of Boston and several South End businesses.
"It’s sort of like the hot bed of all the creative businesses," said Jordan. "Pinkergreen does a lot of business in the South End."
A perfect example of what Pinkergreen does comes from a South End salon, Anita Kurl. Jordan and Shaw-Wade helped with a storefront redesign last October.
Using elements of Anita Kurl’s interior design, which features cobalt blue walls, Pinkergreen created a new identity that helped spruce up the salon’s image. The storefront has the salon’s logo on every window and the top is covered with circles that look like bubbles in different shades of blue and white.
The connection between Anita Kurl and Pinkergreen took root in part in a grant program called The Storefront Improvement Program created by Boston Main Streets. The program helps businesses improve their storefronts or signs and awnings. The Washington Gateway Main Street runs the application process for the South End and awards grants of various sizes - sometimes up to half the cost of renovation with a cap of $5,000.
Amiee Pandey, Anita Kurl’s owner, told South End News in October that had she not received the grant, she probably would not have hired Pinkergreen to design her storefront.
"I wouldn’t have done something this creative," she said. "I would have designed it myself, but hiring a company ends in a much better product."
In addition to work in the South End, Pinkergreen has formed a solid relationship with the City of Boston, working on several different projects. Last year the Egleston neighborhood hired Pinkergreen to develop a logo, banners, an installation to the central square, and a shopper’s guide, said Shaw-Wade. The project is still ongoing, and Pinkergreen is currently working with five individual businesses in the Egleston area through the Boston Main Streets program.
Shaw-Wade explained that the branding of individual neighborhoods in Boston is vital in order to prevent lesser-known parts of the city such as the Egleston area from getting lost in the shuffle.
"It’s pretty easy to tell when you’re in a certain neighborhood in Boston," she said, explaining the importance of branding forgotten areas as unique and worth visiting.
Despite the current recession, the founders of Pinkergreen remain bullish on their prospects in 2009, thanks in part to their success so far with the Boston Main Streets program and their South End neighbors, as well as experience with tricky economic times. The two BU alumnae graduated in 2001, right as the last recession, in 2002, started shaping American lives.
"We graduated literally in the year before," said Jordan. "We honestly don’t know any different. ... It’s easy to be optimistic when it’s all you’ve known."
"We’re very excited for this coming year," she continued. "We started our business in a climate that was pretty similar [to the current recession]."
With experience comes confidence, and Pinkergreen certainly doesn’t lack in that category. They remain undaunted by poor economic news reaching airways and computer screens almost daily. Said Jordan, "We’re going to be growing our company in the coming year."
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