BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Downtown Baltimore is struggling with storefront vacancies, despite a number of recent taxpayer-funded grants.
Downtown entrepreneurs face many challenges, including having to spend hefty amounts of money on building out abandoned spaces and grappling with a lack of foot traffic, parking difficulties and permitting headaches. Several downtown business owners described recently closing their stores or struggling to open, while others that successfully opened say they’re determined to keep moving forward against significant headwinds.
Last year, Deja Richardson opened Neon Paint Place, where customers don hazmat suits with their friends and throw glow-in-the-dark paint at everything in sight. Richardson said she sees around 200 to 400 customers per month, after moving downtown from her old location, which was much smaller and didn’t allow her to host large groups as she can now on Baltimore Street…