"Hanover is very lucky to have such a sophisticated shoe store," Jane Ackerman, a Norwich shopper, said. "This is the kind of shoe store you only hope to find in Boston or New York. It's an unexpected delight to find it in Hanover."
Helium is owned by Stephanie Suter, a self-identified artist who became attached to shoes because of their artistic merit and "sculptural form." As the sole manager of Helium, Suter does everything from designing the layout of the store to hand picking the inventory, to assisting the customer and making sales. Suter has only one other employee at Helium, who works for only two days a week.
Shoe prices in Helium range from $80 to $320. The more expensive shoes include those that are hand crafted, or are made by obscure European brands, Suter said. Helium seeks to deliver products to a mature and sophisticated customer, she added.
"This store is aimed at women who are well traveled, who are creative," Suter said. "Most of my customers in Norwich were mid 30s and older."
Suter first opened Helium three years ago in Norwich, after she noticed that the Norwich shoe market failed to cater to those who were looking for shoes outside the mainstream. Suter sought to fill the void she saw by seeking to stock shoes that no other local store would carry.
"I was interested in having shoes that are a little harder to find, a little out of the ordinary," Suter said. "Handmade shoes, one-of-a-kind shoes."
Suter closed Helium in Norwich at the end of February after three years of business and moved the store to Hanover. Hanover, she said, has more potential shoppers.
Though she said that her primary market is women in their mid-30s, Suter noted that female college students also figure into her marketing plans.
"That market is hard to ignore," Suter said. "I would be foolish to be here if I wasn't thinking of that."
Patti Cohen, the other employee at Helium, agreed that college students added to the appeal of relocating to Hanover.
"Being a college community, you have students who come from everywhere," Cohen said. "They're looking for things that aren't normal for a town in the middle of New Hampshire."
Some students, however, felt that Helium veered too far away from the mainstream.
"It didn't look like my style of shoes." Amy Rolfvondenbaumen '07 said. "It looked a little too crazy."
Though not to her taste, Rolfvondenbaumen added that Helium's prospects are not bleak.
"I'm sure it will last," she said. "It's the same as Juliana and Bella, high end and eclectic, only it's a shoe store."
As a resident of the Upper Valley, shopper Ackerman said that the chances for the store succeeding are high.
"There is very little turnover in Hanover," Ackerman said. "I've lived here for 26 years and space doesn't come open very often on Main Street."
Others wonder whether Hanover is a town that still welcomes small businesses.
"I feel as though over the years it's changed," Cohen said. "When rents go up, small businesses move out and big business move in."
Despite its appeal to a niche market in an already relatively small town, Suter is confident that Helium has staying power.
One student observed that it might take more than a designer niche to make ends meet in a college town, though.
"They won't be successful unless they sell Birks," Abbe Sokol '10 said.
