Thu, Mar 24th 2011 12:25 pm

Perhaps as soon as mid-April, "Hip Gypsy" is scheduled to open at 78 Webster Street, formerly a National Guard recruiting station.

 

The store will be run by three women who previously sold their unique and diverse wares at the White Linen Mercantile in Wheatfield, under the business name the "Grateful Girls."

 

But what each is grateful for now is the chance to open up shop along the Lumber City's downtown strip, increasingly regarded as an arts, cultural and entertainment hub.

 

"People are snapping it up," co-partner Sharon Barber said of business real estate along the street, peering out of her new storefront window in the direction of 82 Webster Street, where an old time ice cream and custard parlor has also been announced to open sometime in the spring.

 

Barber is a photographer, landscape designer, fashion purveyor and painter.  Business partner Lydia Connor specialized in foodstuffs, kitchen accessories and curating the finest local fare.  Holly Rankie is a master quilter, jewelry maker and interior designer.  "I think the thing that sums all of us up is we just like to use our creativity," Barber said.  "We really want to be a part of the scene that's happening here."

 

With millions of dollars in private and public funding already showing its colors along the canal, it's interesting that one of the things that drew the trio to North Tonawanda was an interest in the vintage clothing store "Everything Annie Likes", an in-kind eclectic haven located just across the street.

 

Connor, who is from Cambria, said she met Rankie in the late 80's or early 90's when each worked at DeGraff Memorial Hospital on Tremont Street.  The transformation of the city's downtown identity in the years since isn't lost on her.  "This is so much different than the days when we were at DeGraff,"  Connor said.

 

The transformation, it's safe to say, was promoted in large part by the city's Lumber City Development Corporation in leveraging grants for facade improvements to existing businesses, low-interest lending and helping where possible to sustain the street's original catalyst, the Riviera Theatre.

 

Connor cited them all when discussing what made the three so eager to move back into town.  And considering the millions of dollars more in investment and foot-traffic to be generated by Kissling Interests' soon-to-be $30 million Remington Lofts office/residential complex, it's no surprise all three relocated from points miles away.

 

"This was a place we kept coming back to," Barber, who once owned a photography studio in Tonawanda, said.  "I love how the storefronts are looking -- things are happening here."

 

She mentioned the Kissling project by name.  "If some guy is dumping $28 million into a little town and he's got developments in SoHo and Greenwich Village, it's worth paying attention to."

 

On top of the stellar decor she has used her ample talents with a brush to create inside the store -- with a back room enveloped in a colorful but tasteful beachfront forest motif -- and custom hand-painting throughout, "Hip Gypsy" will feature just about all things eclectic.

 

"I have things here that are made in Nepal -- hip-type clothing.  Young people will really dig this store, but we appeal to all ages," Barber said.  "Everything we get we try to get from an artisan background."  And, Barber added, the place will also serve as a potential show space for local artists and a place to read books, relax and hang out any way you see fit.

 

Two doors down, Canalside Creamery is hoping to open its doors in June.  A sign displayed outside the former law office makes that clear.  Ron and Barbara LaBruna, both lifelong natives of the Lumber City, will serve custard, milkshakes, and an ice cream mixture called a Razzle among other offerings.  It's all planned to take shape early this summer in an "old time" style parlor at 82 Webster Street in a building owned by Walker Bros. jewelers proprietors Jay and George Soemann, who have performed extensive renovations to the space.