Shop Local : Development News

Dan Brothers Shoes at 1032 S. Charles Street was until recently the last word in shoe repair. But that changed four weeks ago, when Bill Graves, the man with the magic touch, left the shoe store and moved his expertise down the street.

"It's a win-win situation," explains Graves, who says Dan Brothers has freed up its shoe repair area for extra inventory, and Graves, who's now located at 1022 S. Charles Street in Federal Hill, gets his own space to do what he loves. By contract, Dan Brothers will stop shoe repair work entirely and send all its customers to the newly minted Bill Graves Shoe Repair.

Graves will continue to offer the same array of high-quality services, including new soles and heels, shoe dying and covering, orthopedic work, handbag and belt repair, and a leather cleaning service for leather garments. He also offers a wide selection of findings and retail supplies such as polishes, dyes, sprays, oils, laces and cleaners.

Best of all, the shop will replace your heels or soles while you wait. Graves, who brought his two part-time craftsmen with him from Dan Brothers, has created a comfortable reception area in the store and encourages customers to bring their lunch in and eat or watch TV while they wait. Come later in the day, and his daughter will be running the front desk, eager to welcome you.

A native of Baltimore, Graves learned the shoe repair trade at Carver Vocational Technical High School, where a nine-week courses in shoe repair, automobile repair and carpentry were compulsory. He prides himself on his meticulousness and his state-of-the-art equipment, and says that, with his 45 years of experience, even high-end, designer merchandise is safe in his hands.

Bill Graves Shoe Repair is open Mon.-Thur. from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Friday-Sat. from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

When native Baltimorean Rosalind Holsey made the decision to open her salon at 525 E. Fort St., she dusted off notes, gathered over the span of her career, in order to create her version of the perfect hairstyling studio. The result? Salon 7.

"I have a Baptist background, and the number seven in the Bible means 'complete,'" Holsey says. "I've been a stylist for 25 years, and I'm mature now and I have a whole vision. I wanted to put all my business experience into this salon and make it complete."

This is the fourth consecutive salon for Holsey, who is a Paul Mitchell color and national educator. Her fan base knows her from her previous locations: A Stylist Dream, The Next Phase, and Studio Transition. But with Salon 7, Holsey has created a smaller, more intimate setting, albeit with an "industrial" feeling. The 500 square-foot space boasts hardwood floors, a tin ceiling, recessed lighting, two eight-foot window displays, and soothing tones of orange and sage green.

The salon, which carries a full array of Paul Mitchell products, features three styling stations and four "bars": a wet bar for shampooing; a tool bar where patrons can educate themselves about product; a texture bar with an array of relaxer and permanent services, and a color bar. Known as the "Color Cafe," the color station offers a menu of candy-themed color treatments such as pineapple, banana, strawberry, blueberry and lemon-lime. The wet bar features a range of sensory experiences, such as a brown sugar scalp scrub and a rinse with sparkling water.

Holsey attended Walbrook Senior High School (now Walbrook High School) in West Baltimore, where she specialized in barber services, and studied massage therapy at the Community College of Baltimore County and hairstyling with Paul Mitchell.

"What I like about Baltimore is that you can make your own destination," Holsey says. "It's all about how you perceive the way you want to live. I grew up with some humble beginnings, but with faith and perseverance, you can start a business here and have a good chance."

Writer: Lucy Ament
Source: Rosalind Holsey, Salon 7

Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Crystal and Denis Ryan got the idea for their latest business came from a personal need.

"I had my first child 10 months ago, and as with many booming families in the neighborhood, my spare room just became my son's room," Crystal recalls. "But when family came to town for a visit, there was not a cozy place in the neighborhood to put them up."

So the Ryans have opened fully furnished guesthouse rentals at 1109 and 1111 S. Hanover Street. The Federal Hill residents dubbed the properties A Home In The Hill in honor of their neighborhood. The one-bedroom and two-bedroom rowhomes are fully furnished and equipped with cable and high-speed Internet access, a washer and dryer, private parking and more.

"They are perfect for traveling professionals and visiting relatives of locals looking for a cheaper alternative to the average hotel stay and for a 'home away from home' atmosphere," Crystal says.

The Ryans make a point if supporting the local economy. Before guests arrive, Crystal sets up each guesthouse with a basket of "wonderfully and naturally fragrant" soaps, shampoo, conditioner and lotion from Sobotanical and freshly ground coffee from Spoons Coffee Cafe and Coffee Roastery. Both shops are located less than a block away

"So far, a majority of my reservations have come from the Federal Hill Kids mothers network that I belong to," Crystal says. "It really is a great place for visiting families to be able stay, especially for those families with a newborn baby and one less spare room.  The guesthouses allow for them to have their own cozy space in the neighborhood rather than to have to stay in a chain hotel downtown. They have their own kitchen, laundry, living room and are just steps away from family."

Crystal has also had couples rent the guesthouses on a monthly basis while waiting for a new home to be built and doctors from various other states that are doing a monthly rotation at one of the area hospitals.

"I chose Federal Hill because I love the neighborhood," says Crystal, who has lived in Baltimore for the past decade with her Australian husband. "The local residents and shopowners have become our family, and they have all been extremely supportive of our venture and have been very helpful in promoting the business.  This neighborhood has everything you could possibly want, local markets, more than 30 restaurants and bars, quaint shops. The list goes on and on."

Writer: Lucy Ament
Source: Crystal Ryan, A Home In The Hill

After waiting nearly a decade for a new source to feed their love of comic books and graphic novels, Baltimoreans are getting not one but two new options for their fix. We told you last week about the Sept. 2 opening of Alliance Comics in Federal Hill; now we'll fill you in on Graphic Novelty, which is slated to open a week later at 1712 Thames St. in Fells Point.

Co-owners Benjamin Greene and Heiko Spieker call their new labor of love Baltimore's "one-stop geek shop." The shop will offer "anything geeky," Spieker notes, including toys, card games and board games." While shoppers will find mostly new issue comic books and graphic novels at the store, Greene and Spieker will be selling portions of their personal collections and will also allow patrons to sell their own collections on a consignment basis.

Spieker said he and Greene, who owns the Waterfront Hotel and Miss Irene's in Fells Point, had tossed the idea of a comic store around for years. They decided to pounce when the 1712 location was vacated this summer by Fells Point Frame and Design (which moved to a larger location down the street).

"We both have a firm grasp on the realms of geekdom, but there are little subdivisions within our expertise," Spieker notes. "He knows more about Star Trek, while I know more about Star Wars, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But overall I'd say we're about equal."

Spieker says he and Greene designed the shop "to look like comic book in its own way," with yellow and red walls, custom-built black shelving units with plexiglass to allow maximum visibility, and a wrap-around glass counter will display special items. The duo have also set up a gaming room in the back of the store with wireless Internet for patrons to play games.

Interest in the story has already been high, Spieker says.

"We've been keeping the door open as we've been setting up here, and people pop in every day to say their glad we're here." In fact, impromptu visits from parents with their children have persuaded Spieker and Greene to carry kids' book, which wasn't in their original plan.

Spieker chalks up the opening of two comic book stores in Baltimore just one week apart to a case of "great minds thinking alike." He's anticipating the month of October, which will bring with it both the Fells Point Festival and Baltimore Comic-Con � and, hopefully, a lot of foot traffic.

Writer: Lucy Ament
Source: Heiko Spieker, Graphic Novelty

What do you do when you score the exclusive rights to a major museum's photography collection? You get a bigger store, that's what.

It's the enviable position Kory Mitchell and Jennifer Moore, owners of Fells Point Frame and Design found themselves in this spring when they won the sole commercial right to fulfillment, distribution and publication of the Baltimore Museum of Industry's BG&E photographic collection, which spans the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. The gig requies considerable more room for printing processes, so the duo increased their space by roughly 40% last month by moving from the 1700 block of Thames Street to 1622 Thames, a building previously occupied by the running store 5K.

The BG&E collection is a Baltimorephile's dream. Among the more than 2,500 pictures are electric images of the city on fire in 1904, a 1944 skyline with Goodyear blimp above it, and the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower when it was still crowned by a giant bottle. It also contains charming regional shots of the Chesapeake Bay, crabbers, Pimlico during the running of the Preakness, and old industrial shots. Mitchell and Moore are able to reproduce any photo in the collection in various sizes and on various media, including canvas.

Fells Point Frame and Design continues to carry hundreds of posters (running the gamut of themes, from music to movies to fine art prints to celebrities), as well as an impressive collection of old world maps and vintage photography. It will enlarge customer's personal photographs, and it sells Moore's "Board Baltimore" line of wood-and-glass signs bearing clever sayings. It has also expanded its inventory to include the Space Craft clothing line and is running a diploma-framing special to beat any in town, Mitchell says.

"We pride ourselves on being Baltimore's most affordable custom framer," Mitchell says. "We make it easy to get stuff frame if you can't afford higher end materials. We fill that niche."

Mitchell, who opened his shop nearly ten year's ago in Canton's Broom Factory, is a Delaware native who made Baltimore home after attending Towson University. He says he's excited about the renaissance in the city.

"I'm a big believer," he says. "I'm seeing things get better. And we're excited to do the new things we're doing because we think they're going to be our engines of growth."


Writer: Lucy Ament
Source: Kory Mitchell, Fells Point Frame and Design

As if Baltimore Comic-Con weren't enough to look forward to, comic book and graphic novel fans can now anticipate the arrival of Alliance Comics, the first comic store to operate in downtown Baltimore in roughly a decade.

Amy and Gerard McNeal Sept. 2 will open the doors of their shop, which is being relocated from Bowie, in what used to be Theodore's Cleaners at 904 Light Street in Federal Hill. The couple will sell new issue comic books and graphic novels ("silver" and "golden" age materials and back issues are available only at the couple's Silver Spring store), as well as toys, tee-shirts, card games, and merchandise related to video games (but not the games themselves).

Amy says the store will carrying "stuff for the littlest reader, stuff for grownups, and stuff in between."

"Comics in general are a great thing for established readers and new readers alike," Amy says. "There are so many different types, from action adventure to super heros, to science fiction. There's a lot more than people generally think there is."

Shoppers at Alliance Comics, which will host a grand opening on Oct.10 during the weekend of Comic-Con, should expect a visual feast, Amy notes. The couple painted the store in a silver-grey tone and used mostly black shelving.

"We were going for a monochromatic background with a clean, modern feeling because our product is so colorful," Amy says. "The comics have such vibrant covers they need no enhancement or competition."

The McNeals started their comic store business 13 years ago, harnessing Amy's retail knowledge with Gerard's passion for comics. "I knew virtually nothing about comics!" Amy says. "I did a lot of reading to learn about them so I can help explain them to people and help them fit their needs."

The couple, both originally from Baltimore, have been itching to get back to the city for awhile.

"In the last five to ten years, Baltimore has really changed and grown as a city from what we knew growing up," Amy says. "It had a lot of problems back in the day that have become less of an issue now. We're fond of it; it's a fun place."

Writer: Lucy Ament
Source: Amy McNeal, Alliance Comics

Melessa Denee's business card, which identifies her as a "weavologist extraordinaire," extends a pretty enticing invitation: "Come and be blessed by hands truly blessed by the best."

The veteran stylist, who's owned salons in Delaware for more than 20 years and has specialized almost exclusively in weave for more than a decade, believes that her God-given talent obliges her to make beauty accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or their means. It's the reason she's opened Melessa's Weave Palace and Multicultural Hair Salon at 1047 S. Charles St. in Federal Hill, where she prides herself on catering to clients of all ages, genders, races, and sexual orientations.

While the new salon, calming in shades of chocolate, cream and gold, is equipped for four stylists and two nail techs, Melessa can invariably found in the private weave room that affords her clients privacy during their visit. She offers a wide range of procedures, including custom-made lace front and full lacewigs, toupees, and partial and full weaves.

"I've had a gift since I was a child," Denee says. "My mom has shown me the dolls whose hair I cut off, dying it green or blue. In high school I did everyone's hair in the community. I went to college and majored in fashion, but I came back to hair. A needle in my hand is like a pencil or a pen in the hand of a writer. It seems to be so easy for me."

While roughly 75% of Denee's clients are women of color, she says she sees a number of white women suffering from hair loss, Asian women who are eager to try experimental styles, and men who want to fight balding. She mentions a recent Honduran client who had not been home to see his family in a decade and wanted her to cover up the bald patch that had materialized during his years in the States.

Denee has a loyal client base across the country. She routinely travels to see customers in Georgia, Florida, California, and Arizona, and advertises in those areas a week or two in advance of her trip to additional clients. It was while coming to Baltimore frequently to visit her fianc� that Denee, who operates salons in Wilmington and Middletown, DE, gained a client base in the city through advertisements and decided to set up a physical location.

Denee, who also sells hair product lines that are hard to find on the East coast, speaks most enthusiastically about her work for cancer patients and individuals whose hair or scalps have been permanently damaged by accidents or surgeries. She has recently been certified to make wigs for people whose hair replacement products are covered by insurance, and she says she looks forward to gaining clients who are being treated at Johns Hopkins.

In those instances, she says, "I know what I do is priceless."


Writer: Lucy Ament
Source: Melessa Denee, Melessa's Weave Palace and Multicultural Hair Salon