Small business owner Amanda Hynson opened her crystal and bead store in 2020 with dreams of being “the Sephora of the spiritual realm.”
She started from a cart in Baltimore’s Lexington Market selling waist beads, crystals, herbs, African adornments and more. Last year, a local tenancy program provided her with the opportunity to also have her first brick-and-mortar store. But she said the expansion has come with challenges.
Her store, Milton’s Daughters, is part of the BOOST Harborplace Local Tenancy Program, a newer cohort of the 4-year-old initiative that supports Black business owners by providing them with funding and business services, enabling them to open storefronts in previously vacant spaces throughout downtown Baltimore.
While business owners in the Harborplace group with Hynson largely praise the program, they also say it has been less helpful with staffing, location siting and marketing.
“It was a good opportunity, but like with any opportunity, it’s not always gonna be sunny days,” Hynson said.
The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and MCB Real Estate operate the BOOST (Black-Owned and Operated Storefront Tenancy) group in Harborplace. Participants received $20,000 to $25,000 grants to open short-term locations in the retail pavilions there until MCB Real Estate undertakes it’s $900 million overhaul of the waterfront, approved by voters last November.
Hynson, along with four other merchants, signed two-year licensing agreements to move into the BOOST Boutique last June, located in a pavilion on Light Street. Two additional businesses were placed as standalone stores in the Pratt Street pavilions.
“We created a program that could really marry a lot of what we’re trying to solve as an organization, and we could be intentional about really uplifting a part of our community of Baltimore that didn’t often feel like they could be in a downtown space,” said Shelonda Stokes, the president of the Downtown Partnership.
For Lynette Dodson, the owner of Cuples Tea House, another BOOST participant, business in the Harborplace boutique has been “tough.”
“The expectation was that it would be booming, and sometimes it is,” Dodson said. “A lot of the time it’s not.”
Unforeseen location changes
The BOOST Boutique in Harborplace’s Light Street pavilion was set up in the back of Made in Baltimore, which merchants said was unexpected. Made in Baltimore is a consignment store working with local businesses and artists to sell their products.
When applying for the program, the business owners said they didn’t know they would be inside Made in Baltimore. Once they did, they thought they’d be in the front of the shop. Hynson said she believes the location in the back reduces her boutique’s exposure.
“By then, we were already announced and stuff, so what could we do? Just make the best,” Hynson said.
Stokes said BOOST merchants knew about the business placement by the time they signed their licensing agreements and were never guaranteed spots at the front.
“When you come in, it’s very rare that you wouldn’t see it,” Stokes said. “Although it’s in the back of the store, it’s not like it’s tucked in a corner.”
At the merchants’ request, Downtown Partnership has given the store owners a branded window that faces inside Harborplace’s corridor. They also added each merchant’s logo to the top of Made in Baltimore’s exterior sign.
Staffing becomes a challenge
Staffing at BOOST Harborplace also has been an issue.
Several business owners who applied to the program said they believed they would receive a staffer for their storefronts, as that was what was advertised in the application materials.
In a copy of the application materials obtained by The Baltimore Sun, it says the BOOST Boutique businesses are expected to have a “centralized staffing model,” and that “vendors are not expected to staff their section.”
According to the partnership’s statement, that meant participants could “work together to determine what coverage was necessary.” This could include “rotating shifts among themselves, jointly hiring additional staff or deciding on another shared approach.”
Business owner Abisola Omoyele “Yelé” Oladeinde said she briefly hired an employee but has recently been managing the store by herself. She is now looking for a new employee to hire in collaboration with another business in the boutique.
“That can at least ease the cost of employing someone,” she said.
Before signing their licensing agreements, BOOST boutique owners were given another option for staffing: operate as a Made in Baltimore vendor. Vendors receive 70% of their sales revenue, with the store taking a 30% cut, according to Andy Cook, the director of Made in Baltimore.
Business owners who spoke to The Sun said they declined because of the revenue sharing and the longer time it would take the business to pay them their share of the money.
“That wasn’t an option,” Dodson said. “It’s been a lot of pivoting in the last year.”
According to Stokes, the Downtown Partnership is open to looking at the staffing issue and seeing what they can do.
Receiving staff “definitely would have come in handy, it would still come in handy,” said Idris Coleman, the owner of a streetwear store and BOOST participant, Motion Athletics.
‘A great foundation’
Despite the challenges, many business owners expressed gratitude for being part of the program.
“The opportunity to put these small businesses at Harborplace was huge, especially for people like me and some of the others who were born and raised in Baltimore and know the significance of being at Harborplace, ” Dodson said.
For Oladeinde, BOOST also offered her first brick-and-mortar store. She said the Harborplace storefront has been a “great foundation for me to learn and to know what to expect in the retail space.” Oladeinde owns and operates Yele Stitches, a luxury African fashion brand.
Programs like BOOST are important because they help “support the growth of minority-owned businesses in Baltimore while investing in the city’s unique culture and economy,” according to a statement from Alexis D’Amato, the government affairs director at Small Business Majority.
D’Amato said that many small business owners struggle to secure enough money to open a brick-and-mortar storefront. As a result, “grant programs like BOOST should be considered models for incubators around the country, providing no-strings-attached capital and technical assistance needed for many entrepreneurs just starting out,” D’Amato said.
Marketing and foot traffic prove tricky
BOOST Harborplace is marketed through MCB and the Downtown Partnership, according to Stokes. They have hosted influencers, provided media tours, sponsorships and social media marketing.
The Downtown Partnership also promotes BOOST Harborplace through its newsletters, relationships with area hotels, and opportunities to participate in the partnership’s weekly Pratt Street market, Gregory Tucker, a communications advisor for the partnership, said in a statement. Still, many of the business owners want to see the partnership ramp up its efforts.
According to Hynson, the business owners do a lot of their own marketing. But, in the coming year, she wants to see the Downtown Partnership be more “hands-on,” whether it be through social media, news coverage, increased signage or other ways.
Alex Hughes, a spokesperson for MCB Real Estate, said in a statement that MCB is not involved in the logistics of the BOOST program, but they have been “pleased to support” the program.
Coleman said Harborplace is still “seen as dormant” by many and that he expected foot traffic to be better than what it is.
Other business owners said they agree.
“The traffic is not as great as I want it to be,” Oladeinde said.
Have a news tip? Contact Irit Skulnik at iskulnik@baltsun.com or on X as @irit_skulnik.
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