Growing up in West Baltimore, Monesha Phillips used to tell her parents she wanted to be an “entrepreneur,” even before she understood the meaning of the word.
Phillips, who now runs Pandora’s Box gift shop in Federal Hill, said she feels like she’s taking her youthful aspirations to new heights this summer, expanding her business to Harborplace along with several other small merchants.
“For me it’s like a dream, having this opportunity to open up a business on a waterfront property,” Phillips said. “Most small businesses like myself don’t have the opportunity or luxury or the means.”
Pandora’s Box, which sells jewelry, gifts, home decor and accessories, is among seven Black-owned businesses chosen to open in June at the iconic waterfront attraction in a temporary tenancy program. Harborplace, which for years lost tenants and patronage under former ownership, finds itself at the center of a debate about how best to renew the city’s downtown district as a controversial redevelopment plan is considered.
Its latest owner, MCB Real Estate, has proposed razing the twin retail pavilions and replacing them with a mixed-use project that will include apartments and offices as well as shops, restaurants and parkland. The proposal, which requires changing the city charter, will go to voters as a ballot question in November. Opponents, meanwhile, are waging a campaign to defeat that question, arguing that the plans would forever strip the city and state of one of its most cherished public waterfront parks.
Ahead of that referendum, MCB has teamed with the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore to bring in small merchants and re-energize the harbor for the crucial summer tourism season.
The new businesses will operate in both the Pratt and Light Street pavilions under two-year license agreements, through a Downtown Partnership incubator program — known as BOOST — designed to accelerate the growth of local minority entrepreneurs by exposing them to new customers. For rent, the BOOST participants will pay either $10 per square foot or 10% of gross revenues, whichever is greater, MCB said.
MCB said its goal since buying the pavilions last year has been to offer discounted space to as many small, local, minority, and women-owned businesses as possible. The developer already has brought in retailers such as Matriarch Coffee, Crust By Mack, Good Food, Saturday Morning Café, Angelis Pizza, RICH Juice Bar, Made In Baltimore and Collegiate Luxe.
MCB plans to continue adding food and soft goods vendors while planning for the broader redevelopment.
The Downtown Partnership created the BOOST program to support the growth of minority-owned businesses, offering marketing and other assistance and matching them with vacant downtown space. The first five businesses in the program saw 300% revenue growth, said Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership, which has moved on to its second five, in addition to the Harborplace merchants.
The partnership plans to mark the signing of the seven Harborplace leases Wednesday, then set soft openings throughout June with an official opening June 19, to coincide with the Juneteenth holiday. Businesses were selected based on criteria such as being able to successfully draw both local residents and tourists.
It’s too early to say whether the temporary tenants will find homes in a redeveloped Harborplace. MCB has proposed replacing the 43-year-old shopping and dining pavilions with four taller, mixed-use buildings. Those include a conjoined tower with around 900 apartments, several smaller buildings, a large new park, a two-tier promenade and realigned roadways. The Baltimore City Council voted in March in favor of land use bills requested by MCB to amend the city’s zoning law and urban renewal plan.
“Part of what’s good about this process, is it allows them to also learn and test the waters,” Stokes said. “It also gives them an opportunity with the developer, and those relationships get fostered. In the long run, everybody has to make decisions that they think are in their best interest.”
For the businesses, it’s a way to test concepts, establish brands and branch out.
After working corporate jobs, Phillips started Pandora’s Box 23 years ago on Cross Street near Federal Hill’s Cross Street Market. She wanted to do something creative and be her own boss, and said her “colorful, girly” personality led her to the gift shop idea.
“We love gift-givers and we want to be the shop for people who take pride in giving gifts … gifts that are more memorable, gifts that make you laugh out loud,” said Phillips, adding that her customers have come to rely on her to help others celebrate or get through tough times.
Phillips put any thoughts of expanding on hold during the pandemic, but when she heard about the chance to compete for a spot at Harborplace, where she’d gone with friends as a teenager, “I immediately saw myself there,” she said.
“I know there’s a lot of new energy with MCB reimagining a new harbor…, ” she added. “I wanted to buy in.”
Pandora’s Box, which Phillips expects to fully open by mid-June, will share ground-level space in the Light Street pavilion formerly occupied by H&M with four other merchants: Cuples Tea, Milton’s Daughters, Storybook Maze and Yele Stitches. Those merchants will join space occupied by a Made in Baltimore shop.
Abisola “Yele” Oladeinde, founder and chief fashion officer of Yele Stitches, will sell her brand of apparel, which she designs and makes in Baltimore from Nigerian-made fabric she describes as “Afro-futuristic,” celebrating African culture. Oladeindemakes custom-fit garments and accessories in a North Avenue studio, including suits, dresses, bridal wear and accessories, which she says “empowers clients to make bold statements at celebrations.”
Oladeinde, who has a background in microbiology, moved from Nigeria to the U.S. five years ago “because of love” to marry her now husband whom she knew years earlier in Nigeria and stayed in touch with after he came to the U.S. The Harborplace boutique will be her first storefront and will feature ready-to-wear apparel.
“I just wanted to bring a piece of my home with me when I moved here to Baltimore and share it with everyone in Baltimore,” she said of starting her business. “Every piece we create is a story.”
Two other BOOST merchants, Motion Athletics and MoreLife Organic Juice, will run shops out of individual storefronts in the Pratt Street pavilion.
Idris Coleman, owner of Motion Athletics, already runs a store on Greenmount Avenue selling modern streetwear with a “Midwest perspective.” He believes his second location in Harborplace already has a following from several years ago when he ran a store at North Calvert and Lombard streets.
Coleman, who grew up on Baltimore’s west side, was inspired in creating his brand by movies from the 1980s set in small Midwest towns, about “kids from a small town seeking a better life.” He said his apparel reflects “the love of expression and the idea of buying into something better.”
He sells mostly men’s ready-to-wear sportswear, jackets, T-shirts, hats, hoodies, sweatshirts, pants and socks, which he designs and sends out to be manufactured.
A shop at Harborplace opening June 1 will offer access to a “broader audience,” Coleman said. “I’m always interested in connecting with the audience. I’m trying to tell a story through the clothes, not just hustle some tees and sell some sweats.”
The merchants will benefit from grants that help with building out their stores and get assistance with marketing, merchandising and financial resources.
The Harborplace developer is offering space and funding for the homegrown businesses as the company works to sustain the momentum of its local tenancy plan.
“At its best, Harborplace represents the beating heart of Baltimore — bringing together people from all walks of life to recreate, shop, and enjoy our city’s extraordinary waterfront,” said P. David Bramble, managing partner of MCB, in an email Monday.
He expressed hope that “all of Baltimore will support these amazing entrepreneurs.”
Phillips, the Pandora’s Box owner, said the lease covers two years but she hopes for something longer-term.
“I hope to expand and continue with MCB or that this is a pilot for something even greater at the harbor,” she said.
For those who haven’t ventured to the Inner Harbor in a while, Phillips said she would tell them to “come see what I see. … When I sit on a bench and I see people strolling and eating ice cream and looking at all the beautiful boats, they see a beautiful harbor. They came here to visit because they like Baltimore.”
This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Abisola “Yelé” Oladeinde’s first name. The Sun regrets the error.