There’s no need to go to Newbury Street when Blue Hill Avenue is just around the corner. That’s the hopeful message from three retail businesses with pre-existing ties to Mattapan that are making moves this summer to relocate their operations to a revitalized Blue Hill Ave. block near Morton Street.
Two of the soon-to-open businesses won a storefront contest run by the building owner, Dariela Villon-Maga of DVM Development.
The locations are now under construction. Body, Stone and Soul Wellness/Smart Startup Human Resources will move to 1039 Blue Hill Ave. from its current space in Jamaica Plain. Sadiddy Lifestyle Beauty Salon will leave Milton to set up shop at 1015 Blue Hill Ave. Both owners grew up in the immediate area and hope to open by next summer.
From left, business owner Skye Warren, DVM Development President Dariela Villon-Maga, and the mother-son business team Tasha Kitty and Marcel Morris-Howell during a celebration at Just Bookish store in Fields Corner last month. Seth Daniel photo
A few steps down the avenue, Bondij Clothing is already up in running in its first retail location. Owner Dionne Richards, who opened the store at 1074 Blue Hill Ave. on May 2, launched in 2010 by producing custom vintage clothing and repurposed denim pants and skorts – among other one-of-a-kind creations.
“People have been buying vintage for years but to have a store like this here – it’s totally new because people had to go to Newbury Street or Lowell or elsewhere, and to have a wide variety of these kinds of custom pieces is unusual,” said Richards.
Dionne Richards, long-time owner of Bondij Clothing, in her new store at 1074 Blue Hill Ave. Courtesy Photo
“The other places around me are helping us to bring the Ave back to life,” she noted.
Richards grew up in Dorchester and graduated from John D. O’Bryant High School in the 1990s. Her father operated the former Caribbean Cultural Center (Three C’s) one block up from her new store. Prior to her May 2 opening, she had a creative studio in Codman Square, but appointment-only sales spaces in Milton and the South End.
Her custom designs of denim, camouflage, dresses, shirts, and other apparel are unique and have gained a large following for years, having been featured by celebrities including rapper Bow-Wow and old-school rapper Eric Sermon of EPMD.
While that was fulfilling, a real store to sell her designs was her ultimate aim, and after winning a city SPACE (Supporting Pandemic Affected Community Enterprises) grant, she charted the course of her company back to Blue Hill Avenue, building out a luxurious, comfortable store with marble tiles, chandelier lighting, and attention to detail.
“This was my dream, that one day I would have my own store to sell my clothes,” she said. “I knew exactly how I wanted it to be, and it turned out exactly how I pictured it. Everyone who finds me is excited I’m here and so are my existing customers.”
Though she is still working full-time as an accountant for Roxbury’s Arthur J. Hurley Company, Richards said she’s been opening on weekends and is hoping to establish regular hours through the week when she finds the right person to staff the store.
Adding to the momentum, last month business owner Skye Warren and the mother and son entrepreneur combo Tasha Kitty and Marcel Morris-Howell gathered excitedly in the Just Bookish store in Fields Corner. They were there to celebrate having been chosen via a community process for two commercial spaces in the forthcoming mixed-use buildings on Blue Hill Avenue constructed by DVM Development.
Villon-Maga said she made the announcement – choosing from several applicants who publicly presented in Mattapan last April – at the bookstore because it was chosen through a similar process. She said the two new spaces should be delivered next year, and the commercial tenants will be devoted to organizing and securing financing to purchase them as condos.
“We think commercial ownership is important because a lot of businesses on Blue Hill Avenue are leasing,” Villon-Maga said after leading a champagne toast with the owners and her community advisors.
“Our hope is these businesses are set up for success,” she added. “They can proceed with constructing their commercial spaces with confidence that in the next 10 years they won’t be displaced, meaning they can instead focus on growth and success in the neighborhood.”
Being on Blue Hill Avenue and in the neighborhood has special meaning to both businesses, just as it did for Bondij. Warren has operated Sadiddy in Milton for the last four years while also working as an educator at Roxbury Prep Charter School.
In securing the space on Blue Hill, she is not only returning home but also going full-time.
“Education has always been my dream but it’s really a time to make a shift, so I am full-on with my dream,” she said, noting that she has juggled both jobs for several years. “My days are long and it’s time for 100 percent of my energy to go to my salon.”
Born and raised in Mattapan, Warren said she loves the neighborhood “with everything in me. We are bringing the energy back to the block in a way I don’t think any of us thought was possible. It’s exciting opening in the neighborhood I grew up in,” she said.
Kitty and Morris-Howell had operated a wellness shop and a human resources consultancy for several years in Jamaica Plain and found themselves at a crossroads when the building owner sold the property. They had a year to make new plans, and that’s when they considered coming back to Blue Hill.
“We really wanted to be in a diverse community, and I grew up in Mattapan so it’s good to come back home and it’s good to own our own space,” said Kitty. “It’s such a big deal. I grew up here and am a first-generation college graduate and now in business with my son. My dad didn’t graduate high school and now my son and I are preparing to prosper in a way that’s all about wellness.”
