BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Parkside Avenue, eight businesses, one after another, all have one very important thing in common. Every single one of them is women-owned.
Meg Howe’s dream came true when she opened Alice, Ever After Books in 2021, joining a street full of other local businesses to support her.
“I was an educator for 15 years, and I always had a dream of opening a children's bookstore,” Meg said. “We noticed this space was empty, and the light bulb went off in my head.”
Alice, Ever After Books is on a block of seven other stores:
Buffalo Seamery, Fairy Cakes, Jam Parkside, Lash Loveee, Making Waves Art Studio, Parkside Meadow Restaurant, And the Beard Chic.
All eight shops are owned by women from Buffalo.
“When I looked into it, I realized that all the businesses were all woman-owned, and it felt like a great fit,” Meg said.
Liz Brodfuehrer with Buffalo Seamery shared that it was actually a coincidence they all ended up together.
“Just naturally, after three of the eight store fronts were filled, we realized it’s filling up to be all women.”
Neither Liz nor Meg would have it any other way.
“I think we are the only strip in Buffalo that is all women-owned businesses,” Liz said.
“It’s about being in community with each other and supporting each other,” Meg said.
They run their businesses just a few blocks away from home, hoping to inspire neighbors to shop local.
“Shopping local is realty important to reinvest your money back into the neighborhood,” Brodfuehrer said.
Or even inspire others to open a store of their own.
“Maybe there is somebody watching this story this week that says, ‘I’m not sure if I’m ready to start my own business'," Meg said. "Then, they see these women who are leading by example, and they say ‘yeah, actually, you know what, I’m ready to do that’.”
