Hampden gets piece of the pie
Big change is coming to a once-popular stretch of retail stores in the 3,500 block of Chestnut Avenue in Hampden.
Gone for good are a tea room and a consignment store. Coming soon are a pie shop and an Indian-themed gift shop, as well as an antique store relocating from Roland Park.
Alice Ann Finnerty said she won’t be reopening Finnerteas tea room, 3547 Chestnut Ave., or The Turnover Shop, 3549 Chestnut Ave. Finnerteas was heavily damaged in a July 10 storm; The Turnover Shop was less seriously damaged.
Although the building has been repaired, Finnerty said reopening the tea room would be “like opening a brand new business all over again.”
“I loved it,” said Finnerty, of Guilford, the matriarch of merchants in Hampden. “It was a big part of me. But I’m 70. It’s time to enjoy the 19 grandchildren.”
Finnnerty will rent the old tea room to Rodney Henry, owner of Dangerously Delicious Pies in Federal Hill. Henry plans to open a second location May 14 in
Pieces of Finnerteas are strewn in the street after a storm last summer damaged the Chestnut Avenue tearoom.
Finnerty will rent the old Turnover Shop to Maggie Ball, 59, and her husband, Larry Fask, 62, who are relocating Spirit of India Boutique & Gallery from Reisters- town. The store opens May 2 and will specialize in “Indo Chic in clothing, jewelry, art, ritual objects, home accents and architectural salvage from the time-worn streets of India,” according to its Web site,
