Business & Tech

Mah Jongg is Name of the Business

Bridgewater resident Julie Novick creates a business to sell mah jongg sets.

It is Cyber Monday, a day when online businesses break out the sales to get people excited for shopping online as the holiday season draws near—and what better way to celebrate than with a new business started by a Bridgewater resident with a love of Mah Jongg.

Bridgewater resident Julie Novick is the creator of Mah Jongg Sally, an online business designed to sell the sets and other related items, like tiles, racks and other accessories.

"My business is an online retail store," she said.

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The store is named after her grandmother, Sally, who first introduced Novick to the game of mah jongg.

Novick, who has lived in Bridgewater for eight years, said her decision to start the business stemmed from a bad experience purchasing one through another online store a year ago.

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"The experience wasn't great," she said. "First, my order got lost, and then I received mah jongg tiles that were defective."

"I thought I could make my own site with high quality merchandise and great customer service," she added.

For Novick, creating the business was a real labor of love to have her own business while doing something she enjoys.

"I believe in the saying, 'if you do something you love, you'll never work a day in your life,'" she said. "I love playing mah jongg, so this made sense to me."

In creating her business, Novick said, she chose to build an online store rather than a brick and mortar one so as to be able to work from home and make her own hours.

"This gives me the flexibility to take care of my family and still earn an income," she said.

Novick said she has never actually owned her own business before, but has previously worked in health care. She said she is preparing to learn as she goes through the business.

All items she sells, Novick said, are her own, so she is able to provide accurate descriptions and thoroughly answer customer questions.

"I'm aiming toward the site having a personal feel," she said.

In addition, Novick said, in the next few weeks she is preparing to create an integrated blog, which will be more personal than just talking about the rules of the game.

"It will be relating stories from my own weekly mah jongg group," she said.

Novick said she is hoping people take to her business.

"A healthy volume of sales is my ultimate goal, of course," she said. "I want my store to stand out from the others."

Visit the business at mahjonggsally.com.


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