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Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.
Today's interview is with Julien Plouffe of Moonglow Jewelry, a brand that makes custom jewelry and sells online.
Details/metrics:

• Product: Custom jewelry.
• Revenue/mo: $500,000
• Website traffic: ~420k visitors/month
• Conversion rate: ~2%
• Started: May 2012
• Location: Miami, FL
• Founders: 2
• Employees: 11

Hello! Who are you and what are you working on?

My name is Julien Plouffe. I’m a Canadian living in Miami Florida. I am the owner of Moonglow Jewelry. I love snowboarding, car racing, surfing, motorcycle racing and anything that involves adrenaline. Naturally, this makes me a risk-taking entrepreneur.
My Company Moonglow sells jewelry featuring phases of the moon from the date of your choice. People normally choose a meaningful date like their birthday or anniversary, and we customize their jewelry with the moon phase associated with that date.
We have been growing quicker than I ever imagined we would, but I feel we still have a lot of room to grow. I started this business out of my apartment doing about $200,000 in revenue, and now we’re aiming to hit $7,000,000 this year.

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

Unfortunately, I was always messing around in school, I loved socializing and was friends with everyone, I was pretty bad at everything except theater and sports. Bad in a classroom setting, but I flourished out in a crowd selling.
When I turned 16, the principal told my father I should quit school and work for him. I did. My father had a pitch business selling infomercial-type products in fairs across the United States, but most products I sold were either passing trends or did not hold my interest, at least not until Moonglow.
In 2011 at a fair in Springfield, MA called The Big E is where my life changed direction a bit. I was 23. I was selling Moonglow for the first time and the sales were great. People loved the idea, the concept, and I knew this was the product I wanted to focus on and could really build a brand.
At the age of 25, I broke off from my father’s business and concentrated on building Moonglow with a business partner. We set up a website and continued selling in fairs, markets and many other events like Comic Cons. It wasn’t too long, we had a crew of four people travelling and doing events for us.
One day I was selling at an event and thought, "There must be a better way" than one on one sales. I really wanted to scale Moonglow and I was getting tired of the traveling; the setting up and taking down at each event; just to do it all again. I decided I wanted to work with boutiques and stores to sell our awesome line to their customers. I spent the money to enter a B2B trade show in New York, (a pricey $10,000) and covered the costs of the show in less than a day, with new orders from stores. I knew from that moment, this is the way to go and scale.
Shortly after the trade show, we hired our Director of Sales who handles all of our in store placement and customer acquisition on the wholesale side.
With ever increasing sales, I could no longer run the company out of my Miami Beach condo. It was time for an office and a warehouse. We opened a small office/warehouse in Doral, FL. Hired two employees, one for customer service and another for picking and packing order.
Now we have a talented team of 12 employees and seven contractors. There are plans to hire additional members as Moonglow continues to grow.

Describe the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing the product.

Manufacturing is a process. We contracted with some amazing designers and through a lot of trial and error we came up with a process that has become polished and seamless.
I truly believe we produce some of the nicest jewelry pieces around. But more often than not, it’s trial and error and most designs are not on time, there is so much back and forth, get ready to never give up and learn from mistakes. I write them down to make sure I don’t do them again
Most of our jewelry is made in Canada and brought into the United States for assembly and shipping. We service both our wholesale and online customers through our U.S. facility.
We needed more money to purchase more inventory. Financing for initial manufacturing costs came from a $40,000 line of credit I convinced my banker to extend to us. Within a few months that line of credit was increased to $140,000 and we were off. Most of the funds was used to buy merchandise and to market VIA live events where people can see and feel the product from one of our team members.

Describe the process of launching the online store/business.

The revenue raised from fairs and events provided the capital to launch our first website. We used an agency from San Diego and paid $3000. It was terrible, pictures were horrible, the branding colors were not consistent, the flow was off, I cringe at it now but it was 2012 and we were focused on fairs and events and less so on internet sales. Even though, the site was bad, sales still trickled in.
A few years later. We started to focus on our website as we really wanted to ramp up this channel. We kept a close eye on conversion rates, branding, photography. We also hired an SEO agency back in 2013. We now rank for most of the moon jewelry related keywords generating over 50,000 qualified visitors monthly who are looking for us.
I hired a conversion rate expert who told us our site flow was really bad, we identified that people needed to click way too many buttons in order to checkout, every button you add, the more people drop out and you lose potential customers along the way. Our branding was off and we needed to become more of a lifestyle mainstream brand if we wanted to keep growing. We needed great photography and videography. This is so important, we use to go cheap on these things, but not anymore. Don’t be afraid to invest in your business. If you’re always going cheap, you’ll generally get what you pay for.
One summer in 2014. I was walking in Huntington Beach, CA and met a marketing agency. We chatted and they convinced me to spend $1,050 a month on social media marketing. They were bassically posting on Facebook and Twitter. This was before the time of sponsored posts and ads.
I believe one of the keys to Moonglow’s success was reinvesting a lot of our early profits into marketing. Earlier on, almost all profit went back in to marketing, additonal tradeshows, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, new displays, new packaging. We always try and make things better and never stay complacent. If you don’t innovate, you’ll get left in the dust as the bar gets higher every day.

Since launch, what has worked to attract new customers?

Social Media marketing works. Today we spend over $1,000,000 annually on Facebook and Instagram ads and our website generates over $5 million annually.
One day, I was in Greece reading Forbes about a brand that went from $0 to $1,500,000 in a year all from Facebook ads. I called up the agency they worked with. They were not cheap and most people who I asked if I should work with this agency said it was way too expensive. Don’t listen to the noise, trust your gut. Since we started working together, we went from a website that was selling about $400,000 a year to about $5,000,000.
We run a lot of Facebook campaigns and are always monitoring. Were not afraid to take risks here but don’t bet the farm either. When something is working, I continue to invest and see how large we can go. The sky is the limit.
We work with a lot of influencers, we use this platform called Socialix to help us connect with influencers looking to work with great brands. Before Socialix, we would just DM a bunch of influencers. It worked, but it got way too messy and was hard to track.
We continue to create content to stay ranking in search engines. On site optimization along with good content has helped tremendously. We are constantly writing about our brand and creating content with other writers.
We do about 34 different events every year to get our brand out there. We do the NY Comic Con, NY Now, Las Vegas Market and others. It’s important for people to touch and feel your brand.
Next year, we are doing our first pop up in NYC.

How is everything going nowadays, and what are your plans for the future?

We spend quite a bit to acquire customers, about 30% of our costs go to customer acquisition. It’s important to have good margins or you won’t have enough money for marketing and advertising. I recommend a margin of 75% or higher.
Our online traffic this year will hit about 5,000,000 visitors. We try to hit a 2% conversion rate consistently.
Our social media impressions are around 3,000,000 impressions weekly.
Our next goal is to reach ten million sales if all goes right by the end of next year. In terms of product, we update and add new designs yearly and are considering a jump into fine jewelry.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

The success of Moonglow is our focus. Whether it’s our brand strategy, our financial goals, or our level of commitment. The management and employees of our company are goal driven.
Another key focus is hiring the right people. Like a chain, a company is only as strong as its weakest link and we have had to do a lot of hiring and firing to come up with the strong team we have now. The fun of running a business, some days are amazing and the next, you think the whole ship is sinking.
When you do the right things, reinvest your money back into your company, and put your heart into every single aspect, the results just seem to come.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

Of course, our biggest platform is our website with Shopify Plus and have a strong presence on Facebook, and Instagram to ensure maximum visibility for our brand.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

The most influential book I have read is Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It shifted the way I think in terms of money and now I use my business earnings to fund other real estate projects, generating an income for myself that will last a lifetime.
The last thing you want to do is make a bunch of money and spend it all. Make your hard work last.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

My personal success depends on waking up early, staying in shape to keep my mind fresh and lots of coffee.
Love what you’re doing and the day flies by. I was working twelve hours a day and loving every minute of it. You’ve got to love what you’re doing. It’s the reason why you do something that is the most important, and that’s something you can only find in yourself and only you can answer.
Some advice to give other entrepreneurs is to first figure out if being a business owner is really for you. I remember when funds were low I had to take a loan on my car to make ends meet. You must be willing to put IT ALL ON THE LINE.
Many people say they want it, but they really don’t, they’re not willing to invest their money to learn, wake up early to hustle. They only seem to want the rewards, get rich quick type stuff, and that doesn’t happen 99% of the time. Set a plan and follow through.
Focus. Follow one course and success will follow.
Liked this interview? Check out more founders that shared their story on StarterStory.com.

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.
Today's interview is with Julien Plouffe of Moonglow Jewelry, a brand that makes custom jewelry and sells online.
Details/metrics:

• Product: Custom jewelry.
• Revenue/mo: $500,000
• Website traffic: ~42k visitors/month
• Conversion rate: ~2%
• Started: May 2012
• Location: Miami, FL
• Founders: 2
• Employees: 11

Hello! Who are you and what are you working on?

My name is Julien Plouffe. I’m a Canadian living in Miami Florida. I am the owner of Moonglow Jewelry. I love snowboarding, car racing, surfing, motorcycle racing and anything that involves adrenaline. Naturally, this makes me a risk-taking entrepreneur.
My Company Moonglow sells jewelry featuring phases of the moon from the date of your choice. People normally choose a meaningful date like their birthday or anniversary, and we customize their jewelry with the moon phase associated with that date.
We have been growing quicker than I ever imagined we would, but I feel we still have a lot of room to grow. I started this business out of my apartment doing about $200,000 in revenue, and now we’re aiming to hit $7,000,000 this year.

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

Unfortunately, I was always messing around in school, I loved socializing and was friends with everyone, I was pretty bad at everything except theater and sports. Bad in a classroom setting, but I flourished out in a crowd selling.
When I turned 16, the principal told my father I should quit school and work for him. I did. My father had a pitch business selling infomercial-type products in fairs across the United States, but most products I sold were either passing trends or did not hold my interest, at least not until Moonglow.
In 2011 at a fair in Springfield, MA called The Big E is where my life changed direction a bit. I was 23. I was selling Moonglow for the first time and the sales were great. People loved the idea, the concept, and I knew this was the product I wanted to focus on and could really build a brand.
At the age of 25, I broke off from my father’s business and concentrated on building Moonglow with a business partner. We set up a website and continued selling in fairs, markets and many other events like Comic Cons. It wasn’t too long, we had a crew of four people travelling and doing events for us.
One day I was selling at an event and thought, "There must be a better way" than one on one sales. I really wanted to scale Moonglow and I was getting tired of the traveling; the setting up and taking down at each event; just to do it all again. I decided I wanted to work with boutiques and stores to sell our awesome line to their customers. I spent the money to enter a B2B trade show in New York, (a pricey $10,000) and covered the costs of the show in less than a day, with new orders from stores. I knew from that moment, this is the way to go and scale.
Shortly after the trade show, we hired our Director of Sales who handles all of our in store placement and customer acquisition on the wholesale side.
With ever increasing sales, I could no longer run the company out of my Miami Beach condo. It was time for an office and a warehouse. We opened a small office/warehouse in Doral, FL. Hired two employees, one for customer service and another for picking and packing order.
Now we have a talented team of 12 employees and seven contractors. There are plans to hire additional members as Moonglow continues to grow.

Describe the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing the product.

Manufacturing is a process. We contracted with some amazing designers and through a lot of trial and error we came up with a process that has become polished and seamless.
I truly believe we produce some of the nicest jewelry pieces around. But more often than not, it’s trial and error and most designs are not on time, there is so much back and forth, get ready to never give up and learn from mistakes. I write them down to make sure I don’t do them again
Most of our jewelry is made in Canada and brought into the United States for assembly and shipping. We service both our wholesale and online customers through our U.S. facility.
We needed more money to purchase more inventory. Financing for initial manufacturing costs came from a $40,000 line of credit I convinced my banker to extend to us. Within a few months that line of credit was increased to $140,000 and we were off. Most of the funds was used to buy merchandise and to market VIA live events where people can see and feel the product from one of our team members.

Describe the process of launching the online store/business.

The revenue raised from fairs and events provided the capital to launch our first website. We used an agency from San Diego and paid $3000. It was terrible, pictures were horrible, the branding colors were not consistent, the flow was off, I cringe at it now but it was 2012 and we were focused on fairs and events and less so on internet sales. Even though, the site was bad, sales still trickled in.
A few years later. We started to focus on our website as we really wanted to ramp up this channel. We kept a close eye on conversion rates, branding, photography. We also hired an SEO agency back in 2013. We now rank for most of the moon jewelry related keywords generating over 50,000 qualified visitors monthly who are looking for us.
I hired a conversion rate expert who told us our site flow was really bad, we identified that people needed to click way too many buttons in order to checkout, every button you add, the more people drop out and you lose potential customers along the way. Our branding was off and we needed to become more of a lifestyle mainstream brand if we wanted to keep growing. We needed great photography and videography. This is so important, we use to go cheap on these things, but not anymore. Don’t be afraid to invest in your business. If you’re always going cheap, you’ll generally get what you pay for.
One summer in 2014. I was walking in Huntington Beach, CA and met a marketing agency. We chatted and they convinced me to spend $1,050 a month on social media marketing. They were bassically posting on Facebook and Twitter. This was before the time of sponsored posts and ads.
I believe one of the keys to Moonglow’s success was reinvesting a lot of our early profits into marketing. Earlier on, almost all profit went back in to marketing, additonal tradeshows, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, new displays, new packaging. We always try and make things better and never stay complacent. If you don’t innovate, you’ll get left in the dust as the bar gets higher every day.

Since launch, what has worked to attract new customers?

Social Media marketing works. Today we spend over $1,000,000 annually on Facebook and Instagram ads and our website generates over $5 million annually.
One day, I was in Greece reading Forbes about a brand that went from $0 to $1,500,000 in a year all from Facebook ads. I called up the agency they worked with. They were not cheap and most people who I asked if I should work with this agency said it was way too expensive. Don’t listen to the noise, trust your gut. Since we started working together, we went from a website that was selling about $400,000 a year to about $5,000,000.
We run a lot of Facebook campaigns and are always monitoring. Were not afraid to take risks here but don’t bet the farm either. When something is working, I continue to invest and see how large we can go. The sky is the limit.
We work with a lot of influencers, we use this platform called Socialix to help us connect with influencers looking to work with great brands. Before Socialix, we would just DM a bunch of influencers. It worked, but it got way too messy and was hard to track.
We continue to create content to stay ranking in search engines. On site optimization along with good content has helped tremendously. We are constantly writing about our brand and creating content with other writers.
We do about 34 different events every year to get our brand out there. We do the NY Comic Con, NY Now, Las Vegas Market and others. It’s important for people to touch and feel your brand.
Next year, we are doing our first pop up in NYC.

How is everything going nowadays, and what are your plans for the future?

We spend quite a bit to acquire customers, about 30% of our costs go to customer acquisition. It’s important to have good margins or you won’t have enough money for marketing and advertising. I recommend a margin of 75% or higher.
Our online traffic this year will hit about 5,000,000 visitors. We try to hit a 2% conversion rate consistently.
Our social media impressions are around 3,000,000 impressions weekly.
Our next goal is to reach ten million sales if all goes right by the end of next year. In terms of product, we update and add new designs yearly and are considering a jump into fine jewelry.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

The success of Moonglow is our focus. Whether it’s our brand strategy, our financial goals, or our level of commitment. The management and employees of our company are goal driven.
Another key focus is hiring the right people. Like a chain, a company is only as strong as its weakest link and we have had to do a lot of hiring and firing to come up with the strong team we have now. The fun of running a business, some days are amazing and the next, you think the whole ship is sinking.
When you do the right things, reinvest your money back into your company, and put your heart into every single aspect, the results just seem to come.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

Of course, our biggest platform is our website with Shopify Plus and have a strong presence on Facebook, and Instagram to ensure maximum visibility for our brand.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

The most influential book I have read is Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It shifted the way I think in terms of money and now I use my business earnings to fund other real estate projects, generating an income for myself that will last a lifetime.
The last thing you want to do is make a bunch of money and spend it all. Make your hard work last.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

My personal success depends on waking up early, staying in shape to keep my mind fresh and lots of coffee.
Love what you’re doing and the day flies by. I was working twelve hours a day and loving every minute of it. You’ve got to love what you’re doing. It’s the reason why you do something that is the most important, and that’s something you can only find in yourself and only you can answer.
Some advice to give other entrepreneurs is to first figure out if being a business owner is really for you. I remember when funds were low I had to take a loan on my car to make ends meet. You must be willing to put IT ALL ON THE LINE.
Many people say they want it, but they really don’t, they’re not willing to invest their money to learn, wake up early to hustle. They only seem to want the rewards, get rich quick type stuff, and that doesn’t happen 99% of the time. Set a plan and follow through.
Focus. Follow one course and success will follow.

Where can we go to learn more?

Moonglow.com
Liked this interview? Check out more founders that shared their story on StarterStory.com.

Welcome to this special additional weekly post on the missing people of Connecticut! (I feel like a broadcaster!)
When I started this project, I chose to use The Charley Project list (here: http://www.charleyproject.org/geo/eastern.html) to guide what cases I wrote about. I had been interested in missing people for years and I preferred that website to learn about them. I assumed it was official in some capacity.
As I began researching these cases, I learned I was wrong! The Charley Project is in no way associated with law enforcement or private investigators. According to the website, it “serves as a publicity vehicle and clearinghouse of information for missing persons.” It “attempts to catalog as much information as possible into a database as a publicity/investigative aid for the public and law enforcement to help find cases.” It lists approximately 9,500 missing people, and at the time of this writing, 62 of those are from Connecticut. (So I am about a third of my way through with this series!)
Few people know that the Charley Project is only run by one person: Meaghan Good! Writing this series of Missing in CT posts has been a huge undertaking for me. I can’t imagine what running the Charley Project on my own would be like! She deserves a lot of props. Especially because she does such a good job.
Keeping track of missing people is so hard because the majority of missing people who are reported missing are found quickly. So, it can be difficult for websites like the Charley Project to determine who to invest time in profiling. Especially since there are so many people who go missing! It can also be difficult because resources like NaMus can take years to upload information about a missing person. Lastly, it can also be difficult because not many people may remember or bring up older cases anymore. Older cases may only be documented in newspapers versus online resources. (While researching these cases I have found that I get information that isn’t available through online articles by looking at newspapers.) So, it’s understandable that the Charley Project list I utilize is missing a few CT cases.
A reddit user who wishes to remain anonymous contacted me with two cases and accompanying newspaper articles about missing people from Connecticut that were not listed on the Charley Project. So, welcome to this additional, special addition of Missing in Ct. Look out for my other post on Antonio Gomez today. There will be another special edition of Missing in CT next week, along with a regular post, too.
Andrew A. Economou grew up in the North End of Hartford. His father owned a small restaurant. The Irish and Jewish kids in his neighborhood nicknamed him “The Greek.”
James Gates grew up with him, and eventually became a Hartford police detective. Of Andrew, he said, “loved to get into fights, and in ball games, they usually happened 9 out of 10 times. Andy was the catcher, and if somebody charged the plate while Andy was behind it, Andy would come up swinging. He was the enforcer.”
His high school football couch, Charlie Horvath, remembered him as “a tough kid with good hands.”
Andrew graduated high school in 1953. He missed the Korean war and spent most of his two-year tour in Massachusetts, where he served with a guided missile unit. Andy met his best friend Charlie Germano when they served in the Army. They knew each other for 30 years at the point Andy went missing. They hunted and fished together. He also met his future bride, Josephine Cenelli, during that time. He marred her in 1955 in a Greek cathedral.
He joined the Hartford Police Department in 1956 and would patrol the neighborhood he grew up in. The neighborhood was changing as African-Americans were moving up from the South. His reputation kept his beat quiet; he was not afraid to use his nightstick. Donald R. Harris was on the force with Andrew, and said, “He was absolutely fearless. Whether he was facing one guy or six, it made no difference.”
One night he found an unlocked door on the second floor off of a fire escape to a Displayland store on Hudson Street. When he went to check the cash register, two employees asked what he was doing. A fight broke out. Andy claimed one of the men hit him in the eye and he had to fight back to subdue the assailant. The assailant appeared in court with a blood-stained shirt and a four-inch cut on his hand. The other employee tried to interfere and either fell or was pushed into a broken glass showcase, getting a cut on his leg.
In another incident, Andy was trying to break up several people who were hanging outside of a bar at about 1:15 in the morning. The two men ignored him at first, but they started to move toward a car eventually. As they got into the car they made an unidentified, offensive remark about Andy. In response to this, Andy arrested the man and began pulling him out of the car when the other man lunged at Andy. Andy subdued the other man by hitting him on the head with his nightstick, sending the man to the hospital. The man who was being arrested went on to get into fights with officers at the jail. He had to be subdued there. Andy’s uniform was severely ripped in the original altercation.
Andy sometimes did good off the clock. One night when he was off duty and driving home from work, he found a 69-year old man lying on a sidewalk at the intersection of Vine and Mather Streets. He called for help and tried to resuscitate the man while waiting for the ambulance.
Andrew liked working his beat, but he disliked taking orders and office politics. He disliked only making $87.50 a week, which would be $772.24 in today’s money. He resigned in late 1962.
In 1963 he went into business with a childhood friend. They bought a restaurant on Homestead Avenue in Hartford that they liked to hang out at. The restaurant did well. His wife said he “was practically in that place 24 hours a day. He was a go-getter, very ambitious.”
Andrew eventually moved away to Rocky Hill and he purchased another restaurant in 1967. The restaurant attracted veterans from the nearby State Veterans home and hospital. Andrew became close with this population, sometimes inviting them home for dinner, and always making sure they came home safe.
In the decade after he left the police department, he became very successful: he would buy three restaurants, at least eight houses, and several empty lots.
His wife commented further: “He was a shrewd businessman. He bought and sold. This is how Andy made his money.”
Most of his deals were successful, others were not. He went into business with his childhood friend Charlie Germano. Charlie moved from New York to Connecticut for the business. Charlie’s family moved in with Andy’s at that point. They purchased a restaurant near a proposed site for a highway. But the highway was never built and the restaurant failed.
During this time period, Andy purchased a home on a hill in Rocky Hill, CT. His wife said he styled it to his “Greeky” taste, painting the Acropolis on one wall and decorating the home with Greek artifacts. He had a daughter and two sons, who he sent to a Greek school in the best clothes. His children said he was not a consistent father: he was loving at times, distant at others.
His son Angelo said his father was “all business,” and that he expected his sons to be businessmen. When Angelo was 14 he was learning bookkeeping and how to order beer at his father’s restaurants. Angelo described his sister Andrea, who was an honor student, student council president, and a cheerleader, “was perfect … the apple of his eye.”
As he settled into the suburbs, Andrew sold most of his properties in Hartford.
Andrew was doing well but by the late 1970s, he began to take risks. He purchased a club in the late 1970s and turned it into a disco. But the competition was fierce and he entered the game right before it became unpopular. When disco was no longer popular, he brought exotic dancers into the establishment. He became more involved with the club circuit, networking with other club owners to discuss state regulations on exotic dancing. He would continue to invest in various strip clubs with men he met while networking. He was not present during day to day operations and primarily operated his businesses from afar.
The strip clubs would also lead to trouble. First, the owners faced charges of criminal obscenity associated with acts performed in the exotic clubs that were outside the contracts. At one point, charges of permitting prostitution, second-degree promoting prostitution, and permitting an obscene performance, were filed against Andy’s partner, Roberto DiPersio, at one of the strip clubs. Another permittee, Sharon A. VanTassell, was charged with permitting prostitution. The exotic dancer, Margarita E. Michaud, was charged with prostitution. George M. Judd was charged with patronizing her. The owners, including Andy, said that “a girl took a dollar bill from somebody in the audience and gave the guy a kiss. People see the word ‘prostitution’ and think it’s a cathouse I’ve got here. Now how’s that different from what you can get at a church bazaar?” The Assistant State’s Attorney stated, “I’m not going to comment on what the owners say.” After the incident, the strip club/restaurant began receiving calls from men about potential sexual favors. The manager, Robert Ruddy, commented: “We’re not in that business. We’re not a massage parlor. We have couples coming in here. We have a ladies’ night every week where we have male exotic dancers. We have disco dancing once a week with a disc jokey. I don’t understand where the problem is.” Andy and the other owner, Roberto, had already received a civil injunction prohibiting exotic dancers at their establishment from performing seven acts judged obscene. The owners had their dancers, who they got from an outside agency, sign contracts that stated they would not perform the acts. The dancers were allowed to share their bare breasts, but not other parts of their bodies.
In 1980, the police began an anti-obscenity campaign that resulted in several arrests at one of Andy’s strip clubs. He began exiting this business and returned to running regular restaurants.
At this point Andrew no longer lived at home in Rocky Hill. He primarily stayed at a beach house in Old Lyme, CT. He was dating a woman in her mid-20s.
Those who knew Andrew as an adult- or Andy, as those close to him called him - said he was a tough, traditionally masculine man. Others described him as charming, and even arrogant. He was prone to exaggerate things. Some went so far as saying he was two-faced: he could be generous and funny, but he could also be cheap and somber. He was known as a hustler, he networked a lot for his business, and was secretive about his business deals.
Andy went about his routine like normal the week before he disappeared. He saw friends and business associates. He stayed at the cottage in Old Lyme. He never mentioned any potential trouble to family, his girlfriend, or friends. That Thursday he returned to the Rocky Hill home for his son Peter’s 18th birthday. His wife remembers that “he had cake, he had coffee. He gave Peter $100, I think.”
On Friday, August 7, Andy’s wife got a call from Charlie’s wife. Charlie’s wife left a message about a “deal in New York.” Andy’s daughter delivered the message to her father at their home in Old Lyme.
On Friday August 14, Andy called Charlie. Charlie was in New York, where he worked for an electrical firm during the week. Andy asked him to stop by on his way home before Charlie went to his weekend house in Southington, CT. Charlie stated he would and came to Andy’s house in the late afternoon that day.
Andy Economou needed money for a deal. He drove with Charlie to a bank on Maple Avenue in Hartford. “When I come out of the bank, don’t let nobody come near me,” Andy told Charlie, who was waiting in the car. He told his friend “I got a gun right there under the seat” if there should be any trouble. Andy walked out of the bank with at least $50,000 in a paper bag. He had taken out a five-day laon against a $50,000 certificate of deposit he had on hand. He may have also taken additional cash from a safety deposit box. The two then drove back to Andy’s restaurant in Rocky Hill, CT.
Charlie said he left for Southington that night at about 7:30 or 7:45 and never saw Andy again.
Over the following weekend Andy told a few people he had $100,000 in cash and that he was trying to get a deal in New York. In 2016 money, he had $265,514.85. He may have even showed the money to a few people.
“Too many people saw the money,” Charlie said.
On Saturday, Andy went to his home in Rocky Hill and ate chili and hot dogs with his family. He often left behind a couple of hundred bucks in an envelope in the basement office for the family when he visited. He let his daughter know he had done this. Later that night Andy spent the night with the woman he was seeing on the side. They went to the movies. She remembers that he kept the car locked throughout the day, stating that he had money in it he would need to go to New York with. She was not sure if he was carrying all of the money at the time, and his friends said it would be out of character for him to do so. He drove her back to her car in his pickup truck, a blue International, outside of Valle’s Steak House in Hartford on Sunday morning of August 16. He told her he was late for a meeting. He did not wait for her to start her car, he just drove off.
When he dropped her off he was wearing a gold necklace with a Greek symbol. He had two gold rings on, one with a large diamond, and the other with a Greek design.
Neither Andy nor his truck have been seen since. It is unknown if he made it into the city, or if he began his trip at all.
Andy often left town for a couple of days without telling anyone, so no one noticed him missing at first.
His family became alarmed when they didn’t hear from him for a week.
Andy’s daughter went to get the envelope with money in the basement office. She found a note that was allegedly written by her father. When she found the note, they reported him missing and turned the paper into the police. It was found on the Friday after he originally went missing. The envelope said “Open in the event I am missing or killed.” The note was dated August 15th. It said, “On Sunday, August 16, 1981, I am going to New York City … I am taking (100,000) One hundred thousand dollars of my personal money with me.” He wrote he was going to loan the money to a friend of Charles Germano. He wrote that he was supposed to make $15,000 in interest on the loan. He wrote that if he did not return, “you will know that I am dead.” The note also stated that if he died, his estate should be divided amongst his wife, daughter, and two sons. The note was signed, “I love all of you and may you all forgive my sins. Love, Andy.”
Charlie claims that he had nothing to do with the money or the loan Andy talked about in the note. He says, “There’s no way … no way … it’s crazy.” He has claimed that the note is a hoax.
The police put out a missing persons bulletin from Andy up and down the east coast.
A week later, a second note emerged. It is unclear who found this note. In the note Andy told his friends to take $10,000 from his estate and use it to hire someone from Providence, RI, to have Charlie killed.
The Chief State Attorney’s office, state police, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms joined the case.
The FBI verified that the notes were written by Andy. One investigator commented on the notes by saying, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Andy’s friend Benny saw the note and stated he thought it was a forgery. He thought Andy’s handwriting would be easy to fake. He points out that the note names Andy’s longtime lawyer, who he had known for 20 years. The note misspelled his last name. There were also two other unidentified misspellings in the note that his friend feels Andy would not have made.
His family said they received several anonymous calls late at night after Andy went missing. The caller allegedly said “his bones are in a plastic bag and his body’s in the East River” or “his head is in a bag and his hands are cut off.” Other calls including threats. One told them they were going to throw a bomb into the Rocky Hill house. The family left for the night but nothing happened.
Both local and federal police became involved with the investigation. They checked records, interviewed people from Connecticut to New York, and searched for his truck. They subpoenaed his bank records at two different banks. A federal law enforcement official said, “We have subpoenaed the records to determine if there could have been foul play involved. [Investigators] are looking to see if he did have withdrawals in certain amounts. It could be any amount.” Sightings were reported in Florida, California, and on a boat - but none were Andy. The investigation became complicated when different investigating branches weren’t communicating.
The Hartford Courant compared Andy’s photo to over 300 pictures of unidentified bodies that were found in New York in the year after Andy’s death. None appeared to be Andy. No unidentified male bodies in Connecticut were discovered during their search.
Law enforcement stated that Andy gambled on sports, but he had the finances to support it and they did not think this could have been a problem. He claimed to win thousands of dollars. He told his wife he won enough to acquire property and remodel his house. She said, “Most of the house was built on football winnings — our carpet, that came from football. Andy loved football, and he did bet football, which was illegal, but hundreds of people do.” Yet, the friends he gambled with claimed he did not do very well. Benny said, “He’d win, he’d lose. He never wanted you to know he lost. He’d use four or five different bookkeepers.” Although law enforcement doesn’t think so, was the money he got from the bank for gambling?
Andy had loaned money to several friends and customers throughout his life but law enforcement did not feel his disappearance was associated with this.
Andy’s family searched for the man from New Haven to Cape Cod. They focused on shore spots in Connecticut and Cape Cod. Relatives from Virginia came up to help with the search. They found nothing.
At one point a private investigator the family hired found a large plastic bag of white powder on Andy’s red powerboat at a marina in Old Saybrook. Many used this to support their theory that Andy was involved with drugs. But the white powder turned out to be baking soda, not cocaine. When the family checked the boat in September, they found it had been ransacked. The seats were overturned; an oil can had been emptied; and the starter and battery were removed. Andy supposedly hated drugs and there is no record he was ever involved in them. His friend Benny said, “There are a lot of things you can say about Andy, but he drew the line at drugs.” Law enforcement believes drug rumors could be due to the association of exotic dancers with substance abuse.
Andy’s sisters utilized psychics to find him. One told them he was alive but needed to be found immediately to be saved. The other said he had been shot in the head and the chest.
Charles Germano said, “I keep seeing a blank wall” when he tries to figure out what happened to Andy.
Another friend, Benny Matassa said, “Every time I dream about him, he is always laughing, like he put something over on everybody.”
Word quickly spread in the Greek clubs and bars Andy spent time in. People could not believe it. Many stated that his time as a cop made him too wary to be victimized. Others noted that there was a change in him before he went missing, though. The young woman he was dating said he “had so much on his mind he couldn’t see straight” at the time. She said he seemed confused. Benny said he was “on edge, depressed.” His friend said he was worried about getting older, feeling nostalgic about the time he spent in Hartford, and unsure what to do about his family. He was not concerned about his finances, because he was doing well. Nothing indicated he was doing poorly financially, and he had plans to open another restaurant.
Rumors spread about what happened to Andy. They included loans, gambling, drugs, guns, and the mob.
Law enforcement, family, and friends believe Andy was probably murdered for the money. More specifically, law enforcement believes that Andy was killed during a deal. He was supposed to buy stolen guns in Connecticut and resell them in New York, according to law enforcement. On February 23 of 1981, at least 121 guns were stolen from a sports store in Hartford. On July 22, in 1981, four of the weapons were located in a large batch of guns undercover law enforcement bought in Queens, NY. A suspect associated with the stolen guns was linked to Andy’s friend Charlie as law enforcement tracked calls about the guns. Law enforcement believed that Andy was supposed to buy the remaining stolen guns from the robbers directly, or finance the purchase, and sell them in New York. Witnesses state they saw Andy with a gun of the same type that was stolen from the sports store over the summer before he went missing.
Law enforcement admit it is just a theory, and that the value of the guns would not have been between $50,000 and $100,000 Andy was believed to be carrying in cash. Yet, no one knew how much money he was actually carrying. Also, guns recovered from the heist were eventually been found from Hartford to North Carolina, which may suggest they were not sold in bulk after all.
William Schimansky had a long criminal history and worked at the sports store for three days before the theft. He left a crate of guns near a door and then broke into the building at night by smashing a door panel with a pipe. The burglar alarm was not activated at the time. He hung out at one of Andy’s night clubs, but no other connection between the two has been established. William pled guilty to stealing the guns. Six men were arrested in total in association with the original theft of the guns. Three of the men were actually charged with the theft of $21,252 worth in handguns, and $210 in knives. William was one of them. Police would not discuss whether these arrests led to more information about Andy’s disappearance.
Charlie says he does not know the man in New York law enforcement connected him to.He claims he knew someone with the same last name, and maybe law enforcement got confused by that. He says he knows nothing about the stolen guns. “I got nothing to do with that. I know nothing about it. I had nothing to do with nothing on that,” he says.
Andy’s loved ones think law enforcement’s theory is ridiculous. Andy had a loving family, a a successful business, a home in the suburbs and a cottage on the beach, and two cars. Why would he need to be involved with stolen guns?
His family continued running his businesses after his disappearance. His wife lost a considerable amount of weight after he went missing. Josephine says of her late husband: “A lot of people will say, ‘He was Mafia. He lived that way. He should die that way. I’ve been married for 28 years to that man — I’m hoping he was going to help a friend [that day].” She and her children still cried long into the night a year after his death.
Almost ten years after Andrew disappeared, his family attempted to settle his estate in probate court. They began by starting proceedings to declare him dead. Their lawyer said, “There has been zero contact sine [Andy’s girlfriend saw him.] We just think the family has to get on with their lives.” It was estimated it would take six to nine months to settle the estate. As far as he knew, there was no legally recognized will - the notes that dictated his estate were not legally recognized. The family’s lawyer remarked on the size of the estate: “It’s your normal, average, middle-class estate.”
There you have it: a Connecticut missing person lost in time. What do you think happened to Andy? Did someone in the Hartford community get revenge on Charlie after a brutal beating with a nightstick? Did he get involved with a bad gambling ring? Did he make a bad loan? Did he get involved with drugs at one of his clubs? Or did he get involved in a bad deal on stolen guns? What happened to Andy?
Andy doesn’t have a post on Charley Project. He can be found here: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/3286/21
EDIT: tea-and-smoothies writes: "The Unfound podcast did a fantastic interview with Meaghan Good a while back. Goes into the history of the Charley project, how she became interested in missing persons, how certain of her unique characteristics help her stay on track with this monumental work. Listen here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/unfoundpodcast/episodes/2016-10-25T13_56_24-07_00"
prosa123 writes: "Being a Connecticut native I've heard of his story. As I recall, the most common belief was that his disappearance was related to the gun-selling operation."
MerricatBlackwood01 writes: "Having lived in Connecticut and Rhode Island in the 80's, I also had heard of this before. Also having lived there, I can tell you that at that time and place, the real Mafia (not the TV ones but the real 'feed people into a meat grinder' types) were very prevalent. Reading this, I noticed that NONE of the names of people involved are from the known Mafia families or associates. I'm wondering if Andrew Economou didn't accidentally step on someone's toes and got taken out for it. Because he MUST have had at least a nodding acquaintance with Mafiosi people, from being in the strip club business. They RAN the 'tiddy bars' as they were called then. So I wonder if he decided to try his hand at illegal gun running and someone thought he might be pushing into their corner of the action. Again, just a thought, I don't know anything besides what I read, and honestly, having been there, I don't WANT to know. The Mafia influence is very strong in that part of the country."
and
"Thank you! Yeah, if he was just a little guy trying to shave off a bit of money for himself most of the Mafia families around that area would have ended THAT idea very very quickly."