By Kyla Goodfellow and John Fetter
BengalNews Reporters
A burgeoning retail strip of Connecticut Street is attempting to upend the West Side’s long-lived bedraggled reputation. Recently the street has seen its share of new restaurants, retailers and even luxury apartments.
The latest retail addition is Bella Tootsie a shoe-spa-boutique, located a few blocks from D’Youville College, that specializes in ladies heels, sandals, and boots, as well as mini pedicures and toenail art. The proprietor behind this creative endeavor, Annette Caldwell, said that although her boutique is seen as a surprising addition to the street it has received a warm welcome from the locals, and has sales that reflect.
“Business has been great. It’s really picked up and has been very progressive. Which is the best that you can hope for,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell said she wants people on the West Side to view her store as a boutique that has obtainable shoes.
“I want people who think that they will be expensive to come inside and realize that they’re not. Just because it’s boutique and it caters to a boutique feel doesn’t mean it has to have those thousand-dollar boutique prices. I have shoes that they can afford,” said Caldwell.
Although sales are the number one goal, Caldwell said she hopes her store will help the neighborhood.
“I’d like to bring the area back to the way it was when I was a child. It was a little bit higher class, a little bit more boutiquish. For a couple years there, the early 2000s, it became a little rough and I’d like to see it go back to an area where people care about themselves, their appearance, and their neighbors,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell, who labeled Connecticut Street as “the up and coming Elmwood Avenue,” said she chose the location because she’s from the West Side and is aware of all the advancements being made. Caldwell said that in the last five years Connecticut Street’s storefronts have gone from 60 percent vacancy to 90 percent occupancy.
“There’s a great energy here now. It’s very positive. Everyone is looking forward to it getting better. Everyone’s helping out. Everyone looks out for each other,” said Caldwell.
Two people who have witnessed the ebbs and flows of Connecticut Street are the owners of the Golden Key tavern, Mary Moore and Louis DiPasgule—Caldwell’s mother and stepfather, and retail neighbors.
The Golden Key, located next-door to Bella Tootsie, is a well-known local bar that first opened its doors in 1936. Caldwell’s parents have owned The Golden Key for 17 years and say that in this time business has been up and down depending on what the economy is doing.
“If everybody’s got a job I’m busy. If they don’t have a job I’m not busy,” said DiPasgule.
Moore believes that this year business is 100 percent on the upswing with the arrival of the First Niagara Bank, West Side Neighborhood Housing Services and high-end residential developments.
Moore is very proud of her daughter’s achievements, saying she did it entirely on her own, without any public assistance.
“She worked 60 to 80 hours a week for two and a half years and saved all her money. She did this on her own,” said Moore.
One project that both the Golden Key and Bella Tootsie hope will work in their favor is the multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the Old Horsefeathers Antique Store. The building, located only a block away on Connecticut Street, will host an array of artisan food establishments, including an organic dairy bar and a pasta maker, as well as four floors of luxury apartments.
Although the street has a constant flow of traffic and pedestrians, Caldwell and her parents hope that the building will draw more people into their area.
“It’s definitely going to bring more traffic here and for me the more people that I get to go by the more people I’m going to get to come in and shop,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell believes that the new project will put Connecticut Street on the map.
“It will make it a destination.”
The opening of Bella Tootsie next-door to the Golden Key tavern has been a “win win” for the proprietors of both businesses.
ReplyDeleteAnnette Caldwell, owner of Bella Tootsie, said that she does “a ton” of marketing back and forth between her parents’ bar.
“I’ve put flyers and business cards over there and even gave them a bunch of post cards entitling their female customers to a free pedicure and polish change.”
Mary Moore, Caldwell’s mother, said that when people come into the bar she’ll tell them about the shoe store and if they’re in the shoe store her daughter will say “my mom’s next-door”.
“Some people after buying their shoes will even wear them in here and have a glass of wine to celebrate,” said Moore.
The regulars at Golden Key are also willing to lend a hand.
“Although the regulars there are male and older, not so much 18 to 36 year old women like I’m targeting, they help me in the sense that they’ll recommend their daughters or their granddaughters,” said Caldwell. -- Kyla Goodfellow
Annette Caldwell grew up on the West Side and has always had a passion for shoes. So it only seemed natural that she opened a shoe store. As she said, “I’m a woman, I love shoes. Don’t we all?”
ReplyDeleteHer shoe store has all sorts of shoes varying from unknown brands to such heavy hitters as Coach, Carlos Santana’s, and the rare Charles David’s. She talked about how her shoes are marked at an affordable price. Her shoes start as low as $20 but she still does have some of the more expensive shoes like Coach. She wanted to make sure that she kept her prices affordable because as she said shoes “can be thousands of dollars in today’s world.”
She also discussed how keeping her inventory prices low allows her to sell her shoes at affordable prices. Caldwell talked about how she kept her inventory cost low when she first opened the store by carrying lower brand shoes. Since she opened the store in February, business is doing well and she is carrying all the major brands.
--John Fetter