Shop Local : Featured Stories

As a city of neighborhoods, Baltimore's independent food markets add an atmosphere and appeal that trumps standard, big-name grocery stores. Baltimore's small grocers abide by the philosophy that quality products and the highest level of customer service will make and keep them neighborhood mainstays.

When discussion turns to neighborhood success stories in Baltimore the usual suspects tend to get most of the glory. We hear quite a bit about Canton, Federal Hill, and, more recently, Harbor East. Which is fair enough -- those are indeed successes. But they're not the only ones. A less heralded but no less significant story is playing out as we speak in Park Heights, a neighborhood that has seen its share of struggle but which appears poised to finally emerge from the shadows.

Baltimore's industrial past is present at every turn, woven into both our infrastructure and our DNA. Yet one would be hard pressed to accurately describe present-day Charm City as a manufacturing town. What happened, and where do we go next? The answers lie in understanding the lessons of the past and adapting to a new and possibly better future.

It started back in 2000 with Roots Market, an attempt to provide an alternative to both Whole Foods and the smaller, independent natural foods stores. Today it's 175 employees and eight stores strong. Meet Jeff and Holly Kaufman, the green entrepreneurs behind Clarksville's Conscious Corner.

Like many Baltimore neighborhoods, Highlandtown is blessed with both rich history and as-yet-untapped future potential. The question is: how to connect those dots? We talked to one area developer who just might have an answer.

As with all things, there's more than one way to view the Great Recession. For some it's a tale of banking malfeasance and abstract approaches to risky investment. That's fine as far as it goes, but what about the human component? We took to the streets of Baltimore's Waverly neighborhood and found three small business owners who each have their own stories to tell about challenge, hardship, and perseverance.

What's the human equivalent of the energy it takes to power a blender? Entrepreneur Natan Lawson helps us find out by bringing bike-powered smoothies to Baltimore.