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Showroom for artists is a gem for Tower Grove Heights area
A developer turns a building into a fun place that features the work of area artists. If you peek through The Shop's windows,
you can see blown glass, paintings, sculptures, toys, jewelry and antique furniture.
The Shop is an artists' showroom in an unlikely place, the northwest corner of Wyoming Street and Spring Avenue in Tower Grove
Heights, a residential neighborhood just south of Tower Grove Park. All around The Shop are solid, red brick houses dating to
the early 1900s, many of them restored to top condition over the last quarter-century. The neighborhood is on the National
Register of Historic Places.
What's unusual about The Shop is that all the items for sale there are products or possessions of people who live in the
neighborhood or who have contacts in the neighborhood.
Susie Gudermuth, an area developer, is The Shop's owner. She has rehabbed some 30 buildings in the neighborhood over the past
24 years. Her company is Tower Grove Homes, and she started The Shop as a sideline.
Gudermuth, 66, and her assistant, Christy Andrews, 36, often talked about opening some kind of a shop, but they never put any
energy into the idea.
Then they found the perfect space. The building at Wyoming Street and Spring Avenue is old-fashioned, with commercial space on
the first floor and living quarters upstairs. The downstairs space once housed a neighborhood grocery called Cobble's Market
and a beauty salon. Most recently it was a meeting space for American Legion Post 186. The post meets in the basement now.
The space is open and bright. In addition to walls of windows, one of the walls is glazed white brick. Gudermuth had some fun
with the floor. Using particle board and polyurethane, she created a glowing, speckled surface the color of honey oak.
When the space became available, Gudermuth and Andrews decided to open a shop. The question was what kind of shop. They wanted
a shop that would draw residents. The neighborhood already had a coffee shop, Hartford Coffee Company at Roger Place and
Hartford Street.
So Gudermuth, who knows artists in the area, came up with the idea of a showroom for them. The investment would be small
because the items in the shop would be sold on consignment.
"We are always looking for a way to feature our artists," Gudermuth said. "We wanted something interesting, too. We wanted
something that would bring in people who walk by."
Andrews found a new outlet for her creative energy arranging the objects. Inside the shop is a collection of islands of color,
some the palest pastels, others vibrant primary tones.
Artists have embraced the idea. Neighbor Bea Clare, who displays her jewelry at the Shop, said it had done extremely well for
her.
"It's great exposure for artists. It's a great place for the neighborhood," she said.
On a recent day, customer Stephanie Homer, an interior decorator who wandered in on her way to the cleaners, said she liked
the colorful art and wooden masks. She suggested that Gudermuth work with interior designers.
Gudermuth, who said she was learning to think like a retailer, took Homer's card and said she would look into it.
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Art at The Shop
The works of St. Louis artists are displayed and sold at the Shop, at Spring Avenue and Wyoming Street, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Thursdays, noon to 5 p.m. Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Artists whose work is sold at the Shop include:
- Nila Petty -- Ivory-colored porcelain jars topped by female nude figures, $85.
- Ellen Royal -- Pottery vases in many sizes, in earth tones, $30 to $490.
- Carolyn Sue Cecil -- Knitted and woven purses, shawls and scarves, $14 to $175.
- Andrew Leicht -- Abstract oil paintings, $200 to $1,200.
- Suzanne Brach -- Producer of music inspired by cats and dogs, $15.
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