Westword Article
Denver Post
Athena Award
Ever since Carolyn Fineran was a little girl, she has loved
to collect beautiful things. For years she dreamed of creating
a business that would give her the opportunity to travel the
world searching for rare and unusual textiles, jewelry, clothing
and costumes.
So Carolyn pushed past her fear of failure, took out a loan
and signed a lease on the space that was to become Tapestry,
now a 1,200-square-foot boutique in Denver, where she showcases
and sell the beautiful treasures she finds. She started small
by acquiring items on consignment from local artists. Then,
she began to plan buying excursions to nearby states such
as New Mexico, California and Texas. Eventually as her shop
became more and more successful, she was trekking to faraway
markets in Nepal, China, Turkey, Greece, India and all over
Europe.
"People are always telling me that I could be even more
successful, that I should expand my business, that I should
multiply, that I should franchise. But my joy lies in having
just one very special shop," explains Carolyn, 57. "Whenever
I do something that isn't what I truly want to do, that's
just what someone else wants me to do, it doesn't work out.
But when I follow my heart, I always find success."
 A
NEW TAPESTRY
Carolyn Fineran helps craftswomen sell wares in U.S.
Mar. 18, 2001 - For 25 years Carolyn Fineran
was known as the vivacious owner Of the Cherry Creek boutique
Tapestry, so named for the exotic: hand-woven textiles she
showed as it evolved Into an unique clothing and one-of-a-kind
jewelry store. Her motto: Dressing the spirit, not just the
body.
When she closed the store at midnight Dec. 31, 1999, she
found a new tapestry waiting to be woven, and this one was
even more exciting.
“I’m in the process of re-creating the tapestry
of my life,” said Fineran, now in her 50’s, about
her work helping craftswomen in developing countries. “It’s
a tapestry with different colors. The threads are being selected
more carefully, they’re more important.
“My first tapestry had bright colors, gaudy and exuberant.
This one is more subtle, and richer. It’s great to do
something besides material efforts.”
Earlier in her 30-year retail career she opened and sold
three Scandia Downs bedding stores in Denver, but that had
been more relief than grief, she said. Closing Tapestry was
different.
“My heart stopped being there," Fineran said simply.
She was tired of the constant demands of shopkeeplng, and
she and two of her longtime employees lost their mothers within
a year. The joy was gone.
She spent a year mourning the loss of her mother and the
store. As she wrestled with the emotions, she kept thinking,
What am I going to do? What can I do that would make a significant
difference?
She was impressed by how much they can accomplish between
their daily tasks of caring for families, weaving an hour
in the morning and another in the afternoon.
The 5,000 weavers in the region work with microcredit cooperatives,
where they can take small loans for essential materials. It's
a way for women to get started in subsistence communities
where there is little or no cash. As loans are repaid, a portion
goes into each weaver’s savings, earning interest, and
they become eligible for larger loans. The women use their
earnings to feed and clothe their children, and send them
to school.
“I was surprised at the high level of sophistication
among the weavers, even though they lived in remote country.
They are savvy businesswomen eager for designs that would
sell in North America,” she explained.
Fineran suggested they replace their traditional vivid colors
with navy, cream and some jewel tones, for example. She also
urged them to focus on making core products that might be
popular in the US: tablecloths and napkins, bedspreads, leather
notebooks with woven decorations, hammocks and serving trays
in which glass covers pieces of hulpiles, traditional embroidered
garments. “As a volunteer I could offer hope, a real
hope, because I come from a place where you can get things
done,” she said. “I want to find markets for these
women who need them, what them, deserve them, and put the
products in the hands of women who appreciate the handmade.”
Since her return to Denver, Fineran also has been working
with old retail and wholesale contacts to see if marketing
links can be established.
Most of all she is exhilarated by the new challenges she
has found.
“Many people of my generation are at the point where
they want to do something meaningful. We have the luxury of
doing something for the joy of doing it, not for the money,”
she said. “In the old days, when we got older we sat
in the rocking chair of went fishing. This generation is going
to travel the world and build schools and help in many different
countries.”
“If you’re contemplating being a volunteer, go
for it. Do it now,” she urged.
Fineran plans a showing of the Guatemalan textiles and handicrafts
in Denver sometime in June. When those plans are finalized
it will be announced on tapestry.com. She is also working
with others to create a web site that will tell where products
of micro-credit cooperatives around the world may be purchased
in this country. “There was a sense of urgency, that
life wasn’t eternal, and that if I wanted to do something,
I should get moving,” she recalled.
She had long admired craftspeople and their beautiful work,
and decided she wanted to help those in developing countries.
Using her retail experience, Fineran wanted to help them develop
ways to market their products and to develop their skills
as businesswomen.
A textile addict and handcrafts collector for years, she
loves to travel and never meets a stranger. Last February,
she spent 12 days in Nicaragua observing programs that helped
craftswomen and began to see new opportunities. Fineran grew
up in Mandeville, LA, and after college graduation went into
the Peace Corps. She spent 21 months in Venezuela working
at a grade school, where she taught English and recreation.
She created another job, organizing an art workshop for emotionally
disturbed boys in a clinic, utilizing experience she had gained
as a high school and college volunteer at a state hospital
in Mandeville. When she came back to the States, she had several
jobs working with migrant workers before going into retailing.
The Chamber honored Carolyn Fineran, owner of Tapestry Ltd,
as its 1999 ATHENA Award recipient at the 3rd annual ATHENA
Luncheon. Fineran's known as a leader in the women's business
community. During her 25 years in retail, as the owner of
an upscale women's boutique in Cherry Creek North, she's developed
a network of craftsmen around the world. She supported start-ups
and assisted others in refining or expanding their product
lines.
A long-time member of the Cherry Creek Chamber of Commerce,
she is known for her involvement in community service. Fineran
is a founding member of the Cherry Creek North Business Association,
a life-time member of St. Tammany Parish Historical Society
and a consistent financial supporter of the Denver Art Museum,
Museum of natural History, Colorado Historical Society and
has served on the Preservation of Historic Paramount Theater.
She has been honored for service to her profession and community
with the awards: 1998 Outstanding Entrepreneurial Women's
Foundation at the Annual Tribute to Women; 1996 Jean Yancey
Award for Outstanding Women Business Owner, awarded by the
national Association of Women Business Owners and 1994 "On
Point" Award, from the Colorado Ballet Auxiliary. Fineran
has been featured in Money Magazine, The Denver Post, Rocky
Mountain News, 5280, Zenith Magazine, The Denver Business
Journal and Colorado Women News.
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