Share This Article
Quoting from the company’s 1971 mission statement, Louise Mawhinney, owner of the iconic Duck Soup store in Mill Village, emphasized, “We are where customers become friends and friends become customers.”
She was joined at an Oct. 10 celebration of the store’s 55 th anniversary by Jim Barisano, one of the founders, who also cited that mission statement, “introducing good people we like to good things we like.”
Fittingly, the anniversary celebration asked customers to share their memories—old and new—and offers tastings, demonstrations, and kids’ activities every Saturday in October. One tasting, on Saturday, Oct. 24, will feature Mawhinney’s two homes—Scottish whiskies to celebrate her native Edinburgh paired with Goodnow Farms gourmet chocolate made right in Sudbury.
“Hundreds of times people have come in and shared their memories, including buying penny candy from huge jars as children,” she said. Duck Soup is encouraging that memory, staying open an extra 15 minutes on the days the neighboring dance studio ends classes at 6, so children can come by for candy.
“The little kids come in with credit cards now.”
One customer momentarily panicked at the announcement Duck Soup had been open 55 years, fearing it was closing. “We are thanking everyone for 55 years and are looking forward to the next 55,” Mawhinney said.
When he learned of the celebration, Barisano, who founded Duck Soup with the late Richard Ressler, sent her a copy of the original business plan, and she invited him to the event.
Barisano, who lives in Groton, noted how pleased he was that Mawhinney had rescued Duck Soup with her purchase in 2014, just as it was about to close. “She kept the essence and even the old logo.” He had become reacquainted with the store about a year earlier when a friend insisted he visit a Sudbury store where he frequently bought gift baskets, and Barisano realized it was the Duck Soup he had started.
The name, he added, was suggested by Richard’s brother, from the Marx brothers’ movie and “because it is easy to remember.”
Barisano left Duck Soup after only a couple of years, buying and running the Center Store in Acton until the early 1980s.
Andy Sheehan, Sudbury Town Manager, helped cut the anniversary ribbon. “Stores like this are a great establishment for a community. Their staying power is emblematic of the appeal when customers can find what they need that they can’t find anywhere else.”
Jonas Geiger, browsing the shelves, described himself as a long-time and new customer. “I used to live in Sudbury, and was driving by today and saw it was open. I hadn’t been here in 10 years.” A former wine industry executive, he was particularly interested in the selection of wines Mawhinney has added.
“There are a lot of smaller vendors with better wines at prices that are quite good.”
Karen Ahearn, an Acton resident, who has “been coming to Duck Soup since before Louise saved it,” relishes shopping at local stores with eclectic inventories. “And she saved Sky Bar too,” Ahearn said of her childhood candy favorite that Mawhinney bought in 2018 and now manufactures in an addition to the Sudbury store.
“I love to watch them make Sky Bars, and I love taking classes,” she said.
Bridget Griffin grew up in Sudbury, and she and her husband, Brendan Frank, moved back to the town a month ago. She was showing him all her favorite stores. The ice cream shop that used to be in Mill Village is gone, but Duck Soup “still seems the same, very quaint.”
Mawhinney recalled anniversary good wishes from a former employee—who had applied for a job in 1971 when the store opened, didn’t get hired, went on with her life, then applied again in 2014 when she retired and was hired. “She said it was one of the longest known job waits.”
[Feature Image: Andy Sheehan, town manager; Martha Welsh, president, Sudbury Chamber of Commerce; Louise Mawhinney, owner of Duck Soup; Jim Barisano, founder of Duck Soup; Frank Mawhinney, manager of Duck Soup; and Ravi Simon, candidate for State Representative.]
