All in Home and Design
“If you could do anything, what would you do?” As Sarah Williams hung out with a group of friends a couple years ago, conversation drifted to this question. Working at the time as a fashion account executive and costume designer, Williams had an immediate answer.
“It’s a long, winding road,” says Felicia Eve, owner of String Thing Studio, when asked how she came to own a yarn store-slash-knitting and crochet workshop in Park Slope. She started her career as…
For most New Yorkers, going to the laundromat is a cumbersome but necessary pain point. We lug our clothes to a dingy location, waiting hours for wash and drying cycles to complete. Even drop-off service can lead to missing items and mystery underwear that are most certainly NOT ours. There’s got to be a better way, thought sisters Theresa (left) and Corinna Williams.
“Sometimes people will say, ‘You’re a businesswoman,’” begins Debbie Hardy, owner of the Crown Heights boutique Martine’s Dream. “But, with that term, it feels like business comes before woman. I’m a woman first.” Having designed and sold her line of fluid frocks in electric hues and opulent prints for 12 years (running her always-bustling shop for nearly five), Hardy certainly has the credentials of a shrewd style maven.
Can we talk about Mrs. Clara Hayes? She is the owner and manager of Bed-Stuy’s Macon Hardware, which she has run, originally alongside her late husband Peter Hayes, for the past 69 years. A native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, she keeps shop with help from her children, nieces, nephews and grands. And today is her 90th birthday!
“I’m in the back-to-Africa business,” says Sandra Marshall-Haye, who co-owns Tafari Tribe boutique with her husband, Michael Haye, and their daughter Saidah (pictured). “I think every Black person should own a piece of Africa and get back with our roots, you know?”
Kiyanna Stewart (left), co-founder of BLK MKT Vintage, has been collecting Black artifacts, cast-offs and curiosities since college, later bringing girlfriend Jannah Handy into the fold.
Some advice. When you see Joel Mahfood, owner of nursery and garden supply center Natty Garden, don’t sidle up and ask him if he sells any “special plants, if you know what I mean?” It’s a hacky joke, first of all, and one he’s heard before.
“Any woman who has a great deal to offer the world is in trouble. And if she’s a Black woman, she’s in deep trouble.”
Achuzia Maha-Sanchez, co-owner of gift and home design haven Peace & Riot, believes her neighborhood deserves certain amenities.
Happy Women’s History Month! Start the season strong with a visit to feminist bookstore and coffee shop Cafe Con Libros. “I wanted to build a space that is completely and unapologetically dedicated to feminist texts, narratives and authors,” says Kalima Desuze, who opened the store with her husband (and barista) Ryan Cameron last December.
“A lot of people tell me, ‘I can tell these flowers were done by a Black girl,’” says LaParis Phillips, owner of Brooklyn Blooms. “There’s some spice to it.”
