Business

BERLIN — The primary notion behind small town chamber’s of commerce is to promote their area not only as a retail destination, but also to develop business-to-business opportunities within their membership. Over the past several years, the Berlin Chamber of Commerce has become even more aggressive in conceiving and fostering opportunities and events that have helped to position Berlin as one of the most economically stable and successful Towns in the region. “In Berlin, we’re becoming more of a destination community,” said Chamber Executive Director Olive Mawyer. “Being a member gives businesses more opportunity and exposure.” For the Berlin Chamber, success is as much about partnering with both the Town and other interested parties — such as the Main Street Merchants Association — as it is in developing networking opportunities for members to get to know one another and see where their common interests are. Linda Dearing, who ow...

BERLIN — Peggy Hagy and her son Jason started the Berlin Coffee House in what has so far been one of the worse years to open a business this century. As they prepare to celebrate their third year in business, the almost feel ready to breathe a sigh of relief. “We’ve really gotten to a good place as far as our customer base and the way we run things,” Peggy said. Although it is almost obligatory to credit one’s customers upon achieving a certain level of success, anyone who cares to poke their head through the door at a certain time on a given day will see familiar faces. Early on, the two planned to focus on being the open all year and cultivating a community presence that has become a thing of the past in many coffee establishments. From the first they emphasized local music and local art, bought products from local purveyors and made people feel as if they were welcome to linger over coffee or tea. This last part was particularly important, as it h...

WEST OCEAN CITY — Giuseppe O’Leary’s is just the right kind of dark for a pub. The dining area that doubles almost as an anteroom filters the light from the street such that the pub can be lit by that, the televisions and the fireplace alone should the mood require it. The fireplace, set against the far wall is flanked by two generously stuffed leather chairs. The chairs, though, are low-backed, dismissing at once any suggestion of clubbiness. This is a pub. “Giuseppe O’Leary’s” is only a partially ironic name. When they opened it nearly three years ago, the Lobue family wanted to marry the strengths of two cultures — Italian cuisine and Irish Public House. The emphasis behind the bar is on quality beer, the emphasis at the table is the kind of Italian cuisine that can be measured on its own, rather than only regionally. “Everything hear is homemade,” Nick, the elder Lobue said. From the sauces to the various pastas and ever...

WEST OCEAN CITY — Peggy Hammond is perfectly at ease in one of the swivel chairs just off the styling floor at Avery Hair Salon. Her surroundings are a paradox of stark modernity and personal coziness. Call it comfortable-chic. She joked that several of her friends have asked when she is going to paint the salon she and her die-hard employees occupied after moving form their former Golf Course Road salon.  Hammond explained to them that the white paint and muted silver ceilings represent completeness. There is a good reason for this. Anyone who had the pleasure of visiting the Avery Gallery in its old digs, can testify to the place’s cavern quality. Set up like an art gallery, and often confused with one, the place gave patrons plenty of room to be the focus of their experience. In the smaller space, overdecorating would amount to inducing claustrophobia. The salon experience generally should be a personal one. The client is the focus and their is no need to distra...

BERLIN — Setting aside the fight to prevent and cure disease, the medical watchword — phrase, really — of the decade is pain management. Advances in nutrition and healthcare have allowed Americans to be more active for longer than ever before. But with expanded life-expectancy and the quality of life that it tends to inspire, dealing with aches and pains that range from nagging to debilitating, is a continually rising concern. While pharmacology hasn’t progressed much beyond aspirin or narcotics or some combination of the two, strides in physical therapy have continually allowed patients to rethink what is possible in terms of their comfort and mobility will into their senior years. But stretches and exercises can only take a person so far. Worse, decreased mobility means that many are not agile enough to get the maximum benefit from the physical therapy routines that can and do relieve pain. Physical therapy is one of the most practical treatment regimens st...

WEST OCEAN CITY — Jan and Louise from CraZy LadyZ want you to recall Dear Aunt Sally. You may remember her from eighth grade math class as My Dear Aunt Sally — the mnemonic device for the order of operations — but if you happen to you’re already way ahead of the game. The game, for the fifth year running, is Death By Chocolate, a kind of poker run wherein players visit shops to get chocolate and clues. The theme is “Are You Smarter than a Third Grader?” but even if you feel as if it might be a dicy proposition, depending upon how long it has been since the third grade, the point of the game is to have fun. The point of the game is not to worry about facts that may have slipped your mind during the 1980s. “I would imagine this year chocolate will be at toxic levels,” Jan said. The chocolate, as everybody knows, is a good in itself whereas the clues are a means to an end. In this case the end is being entered into a drawing for prizes d...

BERLIN — Patricia Fischer was doing double duty, manning the Town Center Antiques counter and flipping through the store’s financials. Mid-morning is typically a quiet time in the Main Street shop and the owner was taking advantage of the lull to catch up on some paperwork and talk about the company’s newest destination — the building formerly used as a Donaway Furniture storage facility. During the week between Christmas and New Year, Fischer arranged to have the entire setup of  Town Center II taken down at its former North Main Street local and re-erected in the Pitts Street building. It was a formidable task, completed without incident, but worth it not only to Fischer and the Town Center II vendors but to the Downtown and the local economy generally. Incentive is the centerpiece of the story and the main catalyst of Fischer’s decision to relocate after 12 years on North Main Street and it begins with an opportunity fulfilled. Town of Berlin Ec...

WEST OCEAN CITY — Having the Dew Tour come to Ocean City was driven, in part, by the fact that for decades, Northern Worcester County has been home to a thriving skate and surf subculture. Although to be a subculture  a group has to be defined by more than what its clothes, the clothes act as a kind of signifier. It’s in that way that the clothes don’t so much make the man as they send out a signal as to the type of man he is. Similarly, surf and skate culture, while not defined by the clothes that come with them are dominated if not by brands than certainly by types. Recognizing and responding to the rise in what might be called urban skate culture, Dani and Ryan Pogge decided to open Bungalow Seven as an alt shop for the alt. Pogge spent last week at the premier East Coast skate and surf show, which draws retailers from all over the country to meet up with the wholesalers on the cutting edge of everything from skateboard wheels to surfboard and everything in...

WEST OCEAN CITY — It takes a certain amount of confidence in both your business and your regular clientele to pick up an move after 10 years in the same place. But after a little more than a week in their new Ocean City digs John Meyers and Ron Saunders, owners of the Monkey’s Trunk in West Ocean City have had their faith in both validated. They didn’t move far but still people have been happy to re-find them. “Really, you just have to make a U-turn,” Meyers said, “People have been so supportive already.” Anyone who has taken the opportunity to stop by the Monkey’s Trunk understands why the shop was worth re-discovering. The home furnishing and decor store has a different attitude than many people have come to anticipate. The difference is subtle, in fact if it isn’t pointed out it is easy to miss, but critical to the experience. A common furniture store trope is to package rooms together, grouping the store as if it is a large ...

PITTSVILLE — Mount Vernon native Robert Taylor has been trapping muskrat for the better part of his 72 years. He rises early, even for a farmer, and heads out to start checking his traps. During muskrat season, which ends in March, he will be able to sell as many as he can catch to Dave White, owner of the Pittsville Diner. For his part, White will be able to sell all the muskrat he can buy from Y to grateful and enthusiastic customers. If you are not one of them, it is time to ask yourself why. The first and most obvious answer is that the delicacy  is poorly, or maybe unfortunately, named. This is a fact that hasn’t escaped many on the Lower Eastern Shore where the meal’s more palatable name, marsh rabbit, tends to soothe the mind enough to allow the taste buds ample room for exploration. White, however, is no fan of the euphemism. “I don’t use the fancy name, just call it what it is” he said. “People will have to go down the road to g...