Copy business on the edge

SOUTH ST.—One of JP’s best-kept-secret businesses may be too secret, according to the owner.

Fresh Copy—which provides copying, package, fax and other services as well as paper and other supplies—won’t be able to stay open through the summer if more local business people and residents don’t start using the shop’s services, Joy Silverstein said last week.

Silverstein, who owns the building at 64 South St. and Fresh Hair next door, said she opened Fresh Copy in January, 2005 because there was space in her building, and she saw the need for a copying center in the neighborhood, especially for home-based businesses.

“A lot of people come by, but we don’t have enough big jobs to sustain the business,” Silverstein said.

“We’re local, and we’re friendly. We won the JP Gazette’s Friendliest Business Award in 2006. And our prices are comparable to the bigger print houses,” she added.

“The local community certainly needs a copy/fax service in the area,” said Richard D’Amelio, manager of Fresh Copy, last week. “I would say that faxing is important to almost all of the regulars customers that come in. When they need to send off crucial information to a business or client, knowing that Fresh Copy is around the corner puts them at ease.”

Frequent customer Brian Adams, the curator of the James’s Gate Gallery, said, “For my business, whatever task I have, Fresh Copy is very helpful. I would have to travel into the city to go somewhere else if it weren’t here.”

Fresh Copy does black-and white and color copies up to 11”x17”; scans printed material; prints from various media: disks, memory cards, Zip drives, jump drives, e-mail attachments; and laminates up to 11”x17”. The shop has a FedEx drop box with pickup daily at 4 p.m. and can be a printed postage, package-pickup location for the post office. Many people send things online and pick them up later, Silverstein said.

Silverstein said she wonders if many people don’t even know the store exists. “The city allows only signage that is flat against the building, so the little storefront gets lost between Ferris Wheels and Fresh Hair,” she said, adding she has resisted putting a flashing neon sign in the window.

“I think it would be a shame to have to close Fresh Copy. I’m not into this for the money, but I can’t subsidize the neighborhood either,” she said. “Every time I get discouraged because we are barely breaking even, someone tells me how glad they are Fresh Copy is here.”

At one point, Silverstein contacted UPS Stores to take over the space but, she said, although they were interested, the space (160 square feet) is just too small for even their smallest franchise.

Fresh Copy is currently open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., closed 3-4 p.m. for lunch. Staying open on Saturdays for half a day is a possibility if the amount of business warrants it, Silverstein said.

For complete information about services and prices, see www.FreshCopyJP.com or call 617-983-COPY.

From press materials.

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