Originally Posted by raisethehammer
Love and business bloom on Locke
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 25, 2008)
The Talk is calling it the love story on Locke.
When Benjamin met Katsiaryna on the Atlantic City boardwalk the first day of summer last June, they fell in love. Both were taking a break from their jobs. He was walking toward the pier. She was walking the other way. Their eyes met. Katsiaryna said hello. Soon they were having lemonade at a nearby stand.
Katsiaryna Dzerabina was a 20-year-old student from Minsk, Belarus, working the front desk of a motel on a summer job. She didn't know a soul. Benjamin Baranas, now 30, born and raised in Hamilton, was opening a flower shop in the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino for a New York City event planner. He didn't know anyone, either. They decided to go out for dinner.
It was a meeting that changed their lives. Both agree it was love at first sight. "It brought me the most beautiful thing in the world, my wife (and) now my colleague," says Benjamin.
"The day I met him changed all my life. He showed me the world and the things I have never seen before," says Katsiaryna. Benjamin shared his dream of owning a flower shop, soon they were working with flowers together, and then they married.
Last week they opened Muscari Flora Atelier at 170 Locke St. S.
Their small 400-square-foot shop will focus on unusual blooms including imported rare orchids, unlikely local foliage and unusual air plants.
In Katsiaryna's world there was no such things as floral designers. "I didn't know such a profession existed because in Belarus it is not developed at all. But as soon as I saw floral design, I fell in love with it, and the dream of my husband having his own flower shop sounded just perfect to me."
She had studied interior design for two years at Belarusian State University. Then she decided to participate in a special program offered to Belarusian university students -- travelling and working in the United States during the summer holidays. Katsiaryna and a couple of friends applied for visas, but she was the only student to get one.
"I was really upset and nervous about going to another continent for three months all by myself, not knowing where to live and work and only having $400 in my pocket." But she challenged herself and took off. She chose Atlantic City as it is busy in summer, easy to find a job and close to New York where she could travel every weekend.
Benjamin had studied graphic design, photography, landscape design and had garden and horticultural experience. He gained more experience in Banff, Montreal, Boston and worked with designers from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. And in 2006, he became creative director of Manhattan's Takashimaya, the exclusive, uber-expensive Japanese department store. But the dream of having his own floral shop never left him.
"We will try to capture a niche market in unusual blooms at Muscari focusing on textures, shapes and lines. I once learned from a designer in France, to have it (a floral design) speak to you ... ask yourself when creating something, what it evokes, and to make something that speaks to people."
If you want to know what he means, look in Muscari's front window.
Dahlings, we've finally arrived ... as in the urban, chic world of coffee. Hamilton's first 'hood has a Starbucks.
Not surprisingly, it's on ultracool Locke South where every time you look around a new business has opened. And sometimes closed. But the vibrant street that keeps rebounding with a new energy is really cooking these days.
At the south end of Locke where it opened last Thursday, Starbucks has put big smiles on shop owners' faces, such as those who operate Green Monkey Street & Casual Wear, Precious Things N More, Second Chance and Pure Home Couture.
"I think it's fantastic," says Steve McDuffee, co-owner of Pure Home Couture with his wife, Abby Kanak, about the opening. "It's an intelligent company that researches where they locate and the fact it chose Locke means they must see something that I have always seen." As of April 1, Pure will extend its business hours from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., instead of 6 p.m.
Isabella Sorce-Vergamini, owner of Precious Things N More, says Hamilton is becoming a city where people are able to get the best Canada has to offer. Among other items, including jewellery, she specializes in Belgian chocolate and Rogers' Chocolates from British Columbia.
Toni Iduciano, co-owner of Second Chance, says they are thrilled about the opening. "Neighbourhood people have told me that the street was missing a place they could go to in the evening. People want to have a coffee or tea, they don't always want to go to a bar." She thinks it has opened up options for businesses to extend hours. "If there is business to be had, there's potential for owners to stay open longer."
She and others realize that people who work cannot shop until after 5 or 6 p.m. Starbucks is open to 9 p.m., Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. All this creates interest, says Lori Buston, owner of Lori's Hair Design.
Peter Giorgini, co-owner of Locke Street Bakery, which serves Seattle's Best coffee, thinks Starbucks' opening is a windfall for everyone. "I think it will attract more business," he says.
The street was busy Wednesday evening as Starbucks hosted an open house for the neighbourhood to sample free coffee and goodies. Manager Bev Macpherson lives just 10 minutes away from what she describes as an exciting neighbourhood. She greeted about 200 people in the spacious 2,100-square-foot store where local musician Jeff Griffith and his group played jazz in the comfy contemporary setting where there's an electric fireplace, leather sofa and on the walls, the bright and lively art of Sandee Ewasiuk, who lives in the neighbourhood.
Bev and her husband Mark Mongenot are the former owners of Samfira, later renamed Metropolitan Bistro, on King Street West, from 1991 to 1996. The upscale restaurant made the pages of Where to Eat in Canada. But the couple closed the restaurant after they found it too difficult to combine with their young family.
Across the street, a smart-looking, three-storey building, called a work/live lifestyle concept, is going up. Occupancy is expected for May 1 for two levels of retail space and a third-floor luxury one-bedroom apartment. "It's similar to what you see in (Toronto's) Yorkville, says architect Vimal Sarin, who owns the property and is the former owner of the British Raj, a restaurant on King William Street. Each floor is 775 square feet. The first level is accessed by a few steps down, and the second level has steps going up. He has had several calls from interested businesses, but hasn't entertained offers yet as it isn't finished. He came to Canada from northern India in 1965.
Down the street and across from Starbucks, Steven Knight has opened The Jewellery Judge, an appraisal business formerly located on King Street West.
And down at the other end, across from St. Joseph's Church, The Courtyard, a coffee and creperie, has opened next to The Gallery on Locke. Both are owned by Steve and Cynthia Bernstein. Their sons, David and Bob, who manage The Courtyard (specializing in organics and environmentally friendly products), will open an outdoor patio in the spring.
Tony Greco, BIA chair for the street, indicated that a farmers' market may be set up on the parking lot of a church, a yoga studio on top of a variety store and a fall festival connected to Hamilton's Festitalia, as possible projects.
The $475 proceeds from Starbucks' open house went to the nutrition program at Ryerson Middle School.[/I]
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