Walking east on Beacon Street from the Beacon/Harvard Street intersection that is the nexus of Coolidge Corner, a left on Pleasant Street will land you right in front of Boca Grande Taqueria and Jerusalem Pita and Grill—still an active area in the neighborhood. Going one street number down, however, one finds several storefronts in disrepair.
The building containing numbers 10-18 Pleasant Street (Jerusalem Pita and Grill is the closest to Beacon Street) with seven storefronts in all, is especially desolate at night; a recent break-in at the corner location where the Brookline Superette convenience store is situated is evidence of that. During the day, the Coolidge Corner branch library, a bit further down Pleasant on the opposite side of the street, is a source of foot-traffic.
As reported by BrooklineHub.com in June, in an article and editorial, enticing people to frequent this section of Pleasant Street is not a problem, as many residents have taken notice of the area's issues. This is especially true over the last few years as storefronts have been vacated. Residents have, as a result, urged Brookline to get the building’s owners to reinvigorate the property.
One address in the building, however, recently saw the opening of a new business, proving headway can be made with the owners and that they are very interested in renting and beautifying the spaces. This new business is Tiny Hanger. I stopped as they prepared for their grand opening. Headed by owner Lucia Berman-Rossi, Tiny Hanger is a children’s clothing and gift boutique for youngsters 0-6 years-old. She told me she has been in the store for a month prepping and known since January that the prospect of her business being there was real. Since then, she really pushed to get the lease from the landlord and their lawyer. Once the attorney stepped in, the process moved much faster with his assistance. When asked about the initial effort to discuss renting 14 Pleasant Street, she commented with a smile, “It was hard, as everyone knows. It’s a process.”
Ms. Berman-Rossi, a Cambridge resident who has lived in the area since the 1990s, said she had the idea for the store for about three years (when she first spoke to the owners about renting). The idea behind it occurred to her, a social worker by training, as she and her husband looked for clothes for their daughter and saw the only the same, limited number of brands available in stores. They wanted to bring new brands to the area and offer something really different.
Tiny Hanger, Ms. Berman-Rossi’s first business, is populated with products made locally by merchants without brick and mortar storefronts as well as international boutique lines of children’s apparel that have been around longer.
As an example, she pointed out baby shoes hanging next to the register. All pairs were packaged in clear plastic and one set featured the recycle symbol on the instep. Though the packaging is professional, Ms. Berman-Rossi said, the shoes were made locally.
She also noted that, throughout the store’s “moving-in” process over the last month, numerous people stopped by the open-doored store to express enthusiasm that a new business was opening. Some even asked for the owner’s phone number for renting purposes. The market for renting the rest of the addresses in the building is, as a result, strong, Ms. Berman-Rossi stating that the landlords just need to say they’re “ready to rent them,” and businesses would respond.
Asked why customers should stop by her store, Ms. Berman-Rossi cited the hand-picked unique inventory in Tiny Hanger. Also, she said the clothing and décor of the boutique would appeal to adults (the aforementioned recycle-symbol baby boots are an example) coming in to shop for children. With the grand opening under their bely, Tiny Hanger looks to be a prime place to find clothes for the tiny people in your life, and a continuation in the effort to spruce up one corner of Coolidge Corner.
