Cari Ross, Project Manager
One of my favorite things about Cleveland (for Executive Arrangements’ 40th anniversary series) are the many small shopping pockets all over the region that have so much to offer. One of the best is at the intersection of Fairmount Boulevard and South Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights, more simply known to the locals as: Fairmount-Taylor.
You can find a beauty salon (Studio Taylor); an amazing bakery (On the Rise) where the breads rival what you can find in Europe and the patrons are fiercely loyal; a needlepoint shop (Wool & Willow); and a couple of other great shops for gifts, clothing, and antiques. Everyone seems to stop here for one reason or another and, as a result, it turns into a gathering place where near east-siders run into each other and exchange stories. This one-block strip is busy, but they are closed on Sunday afternoons and all day Monday so the small business owners who run these shops can all enjoy their own “weekend.”
Local boutique shops – especially when they are clustered into a neighborhood shopping pocket – are one of Cleveland’s best assets. Do you have a favorite locally-owned shop or shopping pocket you frequent?