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Avondale becomes women-owned business mecca
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
Call them the Ladies of Avondale. In recent months, a handful of women have opened businesses in the Avondale section of West Ashley, bringing with them creative concepts, colorful décor, boundless energy and, perhaps most importantly, a sense of unity.
They even have the men of Avondale talking.
“It’s changed a lot,” said David Harvey, general manager of Gene’s Haufbrau at 817 Savannah Highway. “I think they’ve set up a little shopping area. There’s much more foot traffic than there was before. (The area) needed that.”
A woman’s touch
At Poe Studio, 819 Savannah Highway, owner Amanda Weld has been witness to a slew of changes in the Avondale area.
Four years ago, when she opened her gift shop catering to mothers and children, the Avondale area was run down, and her neighbors included a couple of art galleries and a café.
“But they all just fizzled out, and it was me and Gene’s Haufbrau, and that was pretty much it,” she said.
With time, all that changed.
The once all-but-deserted Avondale area, located along both sides of Savannah Highway near Avondale Avenue and the Byrnes Downs neighborhood, has become a colorful and thriving shopping district.
Cars pull in and out of spaces throughout the day; shoppers wander from store to store.
Crucial to the evolution of the area has been the businesses that women have brought to the area, Weld said.
In recent months, Katie Friddle-Pow opened Urban Oasis, a gift and home décor shop at 813-B Savannah Highway.
At 845-A Savannah Highway, Lisa Moorer opened The Culture Vultures, a seller of vintage clothing, handcrafted jewelry, handbags and art.
A bright shade of green on the façade of 829-A Savannah Highway announced the coming of Sublime Pies & Cakes and The Good Dog Bakery, two female-owned businesses housed in one location.
A fun and funky mural depicting several women appeared on the side wall of what has become Reinvented, a women’s clothing consignment shop at 847 Savannah Highway owned by Beth Cook.
These female-owned businesses joined others, fortifying the female presence in the area—an area some have called Charleston’s version of Columbia’s Five Points or New York’s SoHo district.
The transformation of the Avondale area, Weld said, has much to do with the fact that rent rates are a fraction of those in Charleston’s downtown, making it an ideal place for a fledgling business owner to set up shop.
Plus, the location thrives from drive-by traffic on Savannah Highway and offers merchants dozens of parking spaces.
Beyond that, the area is especially attractive to women for a number of reasons: its eclectic collection of shops and its bright colors and artistic décor.
The area, situated between the Avondale and Byrnes Downs neighborhoods, also has a strong female customer base, Weld said, making the establishment of female-owned and female-oriented businesses only natural.
Demitria Votta, owner of Demitria’s Global Gifts and Beads, 10 Daniel St., has been in the area for more than two decades, having owned a hair salon near her current business for 20 years. The Avondale area has a long reputation of fostering women’s aspirations, she said.
“I understand the female quest,” Votta said. “Before I came to 10 Daniel St., I rented a space to Debbie Nelson who created out of her own desire and design Gullah Gourmet. She started out in my middle unit on Daniel Street and occupied the whole building until she grew out of it. There have been a number of women who’ve owned businesses here.”
A united front
The female entrepreneurs in the area say their shops are like puzzle pieces, each fitting perfectly with the next.
At Reinvented, for example, Cook specializes in women’s consignment but only deals with pieces that were fashionable within the past two years.
“I’m not doing vintage. If they want vintage, I’ll send them to The Culture Vultures,” Cook said, adding the relationship works the other way as well, with Moorer sending customers looking for modern pieces to Reinvented.
Moorer also said she has an agreement with Votta.
“I won’t carry her stuff, and she won’t carry vintage. I could start selling beads, but I won’t out of respect for her,” Moorer said.
Votta also refers her customers to her neighbors and has experienced the same.
“Someone I know makes jewelry and consigns with (Weld), but she buys her beads from me,” Votta said.
A new venture
Kate Brockhouse, Weld’s sister, is planning on opening a new clothing and accessories store aimed at a younger clientele in April at 825-B Savannah Highway.
“It’s exactly what Avondale needs,” said Brockhouse.
Brockhouse also plans to help support her fellow female entrepreneur, Kristian French, owner of The Good Dog Bakery, by using the small grassy area behind her shop as a play yard for dogs.
The symbiosis between the female-owned businesses of Avondale has the potential to grow into something stronger than a friendly relationship.
The women say they are looking to unite as a group, creating a sort of partnership to promote the Avondale area.
“We’re definitely considering it, but I think we need to get organized. A lot of wires are getting crossed. There are so many ideas coming in,” Weld said.
Among those ideas: a monthly event where patrons will walk from shop to shop, sampling wine and cheese, and joint Halloween and Christmas events.
The female merchants also hope to advertise as one collective group.
“We do have plans to get together and do more cooperative events,” said Friddle-Pow. “We want to work together. There’s no hostility or competitiveness. There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the area.”
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@charlestonbusiness.com.
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