Parallel tracks for new businesses

Glory Beezzz and Glammatoys both opened their doors on Grand Avenue shortly before Christmas. The two stores still share a work-in-progress feel, and each is helmed by a female Baldwin resident with energy to spare. But these are not the only things the two small businesses have in common. They’re also stoically keeping their eyes on the prize while Baldwin — not to mention the rest of the country — slogs its way through a sagging economy.

Glory Beezzz — a thrift store that also sells crafts and is soon to host crafting classes — opened Dec. 4. Glammatoys, which cut its ribbon in late November, sells educational toys to schools and parents. Of the two, Glory Beezzz is feeling the pinch of the economy more sharply as, unlike Glammatoys, it doesn’t have an online branch of the business to bolster its bottom line.

With her business almost exclusively reliant on walk-in trade, Deidre Stammers, owner of Glory Beezzz, says that while the weak economy is being felt throughout Baldwin, the daily outlook in her shop remains positive. “We believe in what we’re doing here,” Stammers said as she sorted through a display of fancifully woven shoulder bags. “I have people helping me out for free. My neighbor, Dana Berkman, helps out at the shop every day, and I couldn’t do this without her. People come in just to see her, in fact. She dresses them and accessorizes them. She’s amazing. Another guy, Matt Schab, also helps out. We’re all hoping to build this business into something we can draw a salary from.”

Up the avenue, at Glammatoys, Carol Kennedy, her right-hand man, Ed Kalmus, and their small staff occupy a space that’s a hybrid showroom and warehouse. Unlike Glory Beezzz, which prides itself on establishing relationships with a devoted clientele, Kennedy and Kalmus will probably never meet the majority of their customers. Although Glammatoys’ shipping operation is conducted in the rear of a retail space in the Koch Insurance Building, it’s the storefront facet of the operation that’s new.