Nassau Honors Mineola Businesswoman

Nassau County paid tribute Tuesday to six women business owners whose businesses are part of the manufacturing industry as part of Women’s History Month.

Billed as “Made in Nassau County,” one of the six women honored was Stacey Rose, the owner and operator of in Mineola as well as .

“My first reaction was ‘no, I haven’t done anything to be honored’,” Rose said on receiving a phone call from the county about three weeks ago asking her to be a part of the ceremony. “They are displaying us prominently which is more than I could ask for.”

The ink industry is a huge one, with printer manufacturers taking less profit or even losses so they can sell more cartridges which are more expensive and come with higher margins.

In addition to mail-order home refill kits, growing number of third-party businesses like Cartridge World are helping consumers and businesses cut costs.

Rose discovered the Cartridge World franchising opportunity online after completing graduate school at Dowling College and a B.A. from Hofstra. She ultimately opened her first Cartridge World location in Mineola.

“I just was intrigued by franchising because I know its a good start for someone who hasn’t been in business for themselves before,” she said.

Purchasing new ink cartridges for a standard consumer printer can run anywhere between $30 and  $40 per cartridge for the brand names, versus half as much for a replacement from Cartridge World. The savings are even greater if the existing cartridge is simply refilled.

Besides saving customers money, “I liked the concept of just renewing cartridges, keeping cartridges out of the landfills, the whole environmental aspect was really important to me,” Rose said.

Her husband Trevor now runs the Mineola location of the ink cartridge manufacturer and retailer after she opened a store in Garden City in 2008. In addition to Rose and her husband, the stores have three employees across both locations.

“We’re a source of revenue and employment,” Rose said. “The more we can do, the more we can grow, the more we can employ the more we can pay our taxes and help Nassau County.”

Rose encouraged all businesses owned and operated by women and minorities to register with the county office of the same name as she did when her Mineola storefront first opened. However, not all applicants may experience what Rose did as her application languished in the office “for more than a year” before Executive Ed Mangano took office and approved the large number of waiting applications she says.

“It’s probably a lot easier than its ever been,” for women to start their own businesses now Rose said, adding that she doesn’t see enough women businesses.

Among the other women entrepreneurs being honored were Susan Axelrod of Love and Quiches Desserts, a Freeport-based bakery, who Rose called an “inspiration,” and  another acquaintance, Roberta Perry of Bethpage-based Scrubz Body Scrub.