Amid Controversy In Boston, Pottery Studio Set To Open New Location In Downtown Nantucket

A Boston pottery studio that is planning to open a new location on Nantucket has been at the center of a social media storm and the subject of a withering front-page story in The Boston Globe earlier this month.

Rainbows Pottery Studio owner Allison Carroll said it has been her dream to expand to Nantucket - specifically to the storefront at 1 Cambridge Street, across the street from The Atheneum. That dream is coming to reality amid a tumultuous time for her business.

The Globe reported last Sunday that Carroll has shown a pattern of “menacing both staff and customers at her storefront on one of Boston’s toniest thoroughfares” and confronting patrons who wrote negative reviews with everything from “intimidating text messages to legal action.”

Carroll told the Current this week that despite the scrutiny and controversy, she is undeterred and moving ahead with plans to open her second location on the island this spring.

“That location in particular has been something I've been looking at for many years,” Carroll said of property, located at the corner India and North Union streets in downtown Nantucket. “I was very excited when I saw the beautiful renovations. And I was hoping that I could get into that spot to open the business I have already had successfully in Boston for the past 10 years. I absolutely love my job. I want to provide an awesome service for the community to come and have device-free, quiet art exploration for, not only the locals, but the tourists that come as well. But in particular, the locals. I want the locals to know that I'm willing to do anything to make them feel comfortable.”

Carroll declined to discuss the specific allegations raised in the Globe story, stating she simply had no comment. The story was published after weeks of criticism on social media, which began with a viral TikTok post that alluded to the behavior of Carroll’s former employee Andrew “Drew” Giampa, a convicted Level 3 sex offender, who was accused of a series of troubling encounters around the store on Newbury Street. The Globe reported that ​​Carroll had known Giampa for almost 10 years, and that “At various points, she has described him as her personal assistant, and as her adopted son, and had credited him in the past with helping to grow her business.”

Carroll told the Current this week that Giampa is now “abolished” from her life, and will have no part in the store on Nantucket.

“I know that there's a lot of concern about whether Drew will be accompanying me out there,” Carroll said. “That is absolutely not the case. I'd be willing to do anything to make the community feel more comfortable that that decision will stay as permanent…Drew is abolished from my life. I am never going to see him again or speak to him ever again. And I take what has happened very seriously. If it didn't come across that way in the initial posts, I would state that I was still unraveling and learning things too during that process. I'd never been through anything like this before, and it was all very overwhelming. I’m 100 percent into protecting my patrons, and I take ownership for any ways in which I could have done a better job, in terms of having a background check, which I should have done, and any ways under which anyone is critical of my approach in this manner. I can do better, and I want to do better, and I am fully committed to doing whatever it takes to earn back the trust of the communities, specifically the Nantucket community.”

Michael Cotton, whose family owns the property at 1 Cambridge Street, told the Current this week that he is aware of the recent media attention on Rainbows Pottery, and that the store remains on track to open at the new location soon.

“We are aware of the Boston Globe article, but can’t speculate on whether the circumstances described in the article will affect her plans for the new studio,” Cotton said in an email. “In any event, please be assured that as a local landlord, we recognize we have obligations to our tenants and the Nantucket community and will always do our best to honor both. As of now, they take possession of the premises April 1.”

Carroll said this week that the opening date for Rainbows Pottery on Nantucket will be closer to May 1st. The Boston store on Newbury Street allows patrons to paint pottery that is available to purchase and offers kids pottery camps, wheel throwing, and sculpting pottery. The Nantucket location, Carroll said, will operate in much the same way.

“I have learned a lot in this experience, and I do want it to be a really positive experience for the community, and I'm hoping that people see that when I arrive and when I when I show them what I'm offering,” Carroll said. “And I'm very supportive of everyone in that community, and I appreciate what everyone's doing in that community. And there will be no ways under which I won't respect everyone's opinion on this topic. What they choose to think about me or the business, I totally respect that. But what I would love is if they would give me an opportunity to show who I am in person.”