Imagine arriving at the retail business you had built up over 15 years, and discovering that 100 percent of your inventory had been wiped out, literally overnight.
On April 28, Mario Diaz, who owns an athletic shoe and apparel shop in Highlandtown, was faced with this exact situation.
One-hundred percent might be an exaggeration. Looters, taking advantage of civil unrest on the night of April 27, did leave behind several single shoes without mates.
“It was really sad,” Diaz remembered.
He immediately understood that giving up on Sneaky Feet, his shop at 3223 Eastern Ave., was not an option.
“The first thing I thought was that if the shop went out of business, I would lose my job, and I needed it to keep my family going,” said Diaz, noting that he and his wife have three children.
He sought and obtained assistance from the city. He also received help from the nonprofit organization around the corner, the Southeast Community Development Corp.
Amanda Smit-Peters, manager of Highlandtown Main Street, a program of the Southeast CDC, had applied for a grant from the Baltimore Community Foundation’s Fund for Rebuilding Baltimore, which was established immediately after the late-April unrest.
Through her efforts, the Southeast CDC received a $10,000 grant to support the Highlandtown Main Street recovery initiative.
Smit-Peters explained that the funds were being disbursed in three ways:
- As direct financial assistance for businesses that suffered damages or loss of inventory. Sneaky Feat, Dewin’s Hand Talk Barber Shop and the Highlandtown Pharmacy have applied for and received such assistance.
- To hold two “open-for business” events promoting neighborhood shopping. One of those events was Sneaky Feat’s re-opening celebration, held Aug. 8.
- To implement a marketing campaign to reinforce Highlandtown as a safe, vibrant and welcoming shopping district.
“Every business in Highlandtown has been impacted in some way by the civil unrest,” Smit-Peters said, noting that some, such as Sneaky Feat, had sustained glaringly obvious losses, whereas others were simply suffering from the lowered neighborhood shopping traffic following the unrest.
In addition to the Rebuilding Baltimore grants, Smit-Peters helped “any business that came in here and needed help.”
Sometimes, it was assistance with administrative matters.
Highlandtown Main Street also helped those establishments with smashed doors obtain facade grants.
The hardest-hit businesses used the Rebuilding Baltimore funds for interior repairs, facelifts, and to replace destroyed displays.
“It helped give us a whole new face for the store,” said Diaz, indicating a new display of hard-to-find soccer and running shoes behind him. “Amanda was really helpful to us.”
For some businesses, Smit-Peters noted, insurance had covered a large portion of losses.
“But they needed to do some marketing to let people know they were still open,” she said. “When you’re fixing your business, you can’t always get back to marketing, to get the momentum going again, and that’s what it takes.”
Diaz said that he can feel the momentum returning.
“I believe in the neighborhood, and I believe that we have hope that everything will be well again,” he said.
He has even used the mismatched shoes to decorate the store.