Parkside Harbor is a women's clothing boutique owned by Catherine Mascitti. The idea of Parkside Harbor was born out of Catherine’s love of fashion and need for a boutique that was fashion forward but still included the basics and staples needed in an everyday wardrobe. She wanted a place that empowered women to wear whatever they wanted, while still being able to look professional.
Catherine’s fashion journey started in high school where she first attended sewing and design classes. She followed this passion into college and majored in Fashion Design and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Illinois Institute of Art Chicago. During this time, she interned in Los Angeles where she learned different aspects of the fashion world - from small time manufacturing and development to high-end over the top styling. After college, Catherine worked for some big brands and made the leap to work with a small business back in Chicago. It was at this company where she learned about running a business and where she credits her own success. Jump forward to a few years later when Catherine and her husband moved to Jacksonville, and she started Parkside Harbor as an online clothing store. When Catherine was ready to turn Parkside Harbor into a brick-and-mortar store she enlisted the services of the SBDC at UNF. She met with SBDC business consultant Nancy Boyle in early 2023. Nancy helped Catherine with the opening of the retail storefront in the San Marco neighborhood of Jacksonville. Some of the obstacles Catherine needed to overcome to be truly successful in her new store involved her financing and staffing. That’s where the SBDC stepped in to help with financial analysis and projections for the build-out of the store front and team development for the staff needs.
Catherine speaks about her assistance from the SBDC, “Working with the SBDC has been a great tool for us. Nancy was not only helpful in the startup of our store front location, providing us with details and tools to prepare before construction, permits, and other knowledge, but also with our accounting and financial analysis of our project and current state of business. She was able to give us the tools and the knowledge to be able to develop our business significantly.”
Although it was never Catherine’s dream to own a boutique, she acknowledges that sometimes life doesn't always go the way you planned and now she has a brand-new dream becoming a reality and the SBDC is glad to be part of the journey.
Nancy is proud of her client’s momentum and had this to say, “Catherine already had a successful online store selling upscale women’s clothing when she came to the SBDC. She had had a pop-up shop for two months at the St. Johns Town Center over the summer and her sales had increased by 1000% so she decided to open a retail store in the San Marco area. We worked on her business plan to obtain a loan to build-out the store location. She’s had several successful months since her opening and looks to be on track to meet all her sales goals. Catherine’s energy and focus enabled her to stay on track and open the store on her timeline. The store itself is light and airy with lovely displays of clothing. It’s a very inviting shopping environment.”
