Teen Drives Morris County Businesses

By Mariana Simioni

Most teens scroll through Instagram. Giovanni DiDomenico built a business on it. 

At 14, Giovanni created and launched Shop Morris County  (shopmorriscounty.com), an Instagram page-turned-full-blown-digital-guide dedicated to showcasing local businesses, restaurants, and events. 

“What really inspired me was helping small businesses,” he said. “A lot of them need support.”

He said the idea came to him when he had lunch at a Boonton restaurant that he thought could use some help. The restaurant has since closed, but with entrepreneurial guidance from his father, John, Giovanni began using his phone camera to spotlight neighborhood companies.

Within a year, the platform expanded into a website that now draws roughly 60,000 monthly impressions. On Instagram alone, Shop Morris County recently surpassed 100,000 views in just 30 days.

Shop Morris County has partnered with local businesses through events at Margarita’s Bar & Grill in Dover, the Randolph Freedom Festival, the Tri-County Fair, and the Hannaford Circus. These partnerships promote events across social media, the Shop Morris County website, and mailing printed ads directly to local homes. 

“We help people see what’s going on in the area and help them connect,” Giovanni said.

The results speak for themselves: a $300 article and ad campaign for the Hannaford Circus, for example, generated over 100 ticket sales and more than $3,000 in revenue for the client. Overall, Shop Morris County brings in a steady five-figure monthly income, with Giovanni managing everything from social strategy to visual content creation. 

Instagram remains the main traffic driver, and the team actively maintains their website as well.

Valentina Acosta, manager at Margarita’s, said a networking event with Shop Morris County brought visibility to the newly opened restaurant.

“They had great exposure on social media,” Acosta said. “And they were willing to help us, knowing that we had just recently opened.”

The event drew more than 65 local business owners and entrepreneurs, many of whom stayed for dinner and karaoke. 

“A lot of them have now become repeat customers,” Acosta said. “The first one was a success, so we're planning to host these events every three to four months.”

When he’s not working on the website, Giovanni, now 16, lives in Parsippany with his parents, Kinga and John, and three siblings. This fall he will accelerate his course work at Acellus Academy, an online school, to better balance his education with growing his business. He’s on track to graduate months ahead of schedule. 

After graduation, he plans to trade textbooks for business plans, choosing real-world experiences over college classrooms. 

“I knew what I wanted to do,” he said. “I love making a positive impact in the community.”