April 22-28, 2004

naked city

Philadelphia Dreamin'

Two of a kind: Fronczak and Dorn turned a former dress shop into their "general store."

Swept off their feet by West Philly, a couple leaves California to come here and sell handmade goods.

by Lori Hill

"The architecture is wonderful, and it’s so green in the summer, with trees that reach all the way across the streets. The people here are great -- it seems like there’s someone from almost everywhere, so many languages, and you can get the best food! That’s all mixed in with people who have lived in this area for years and years."

Christine Fronczak, a Michigan native and current West Philadelphian, is talking about her adoptive neighborhood and the site of her shop, Mia Lou Artisan Gallery and General Store. Fronczak co-owns Mia Lou with her husband, Sean Dorn. Mia Lou is a consignment shop and gallery, carrying everything from all-natural bath products to stationery to jewelry to clothing. All the work is handmade -- and new, not vintage.

Here’s how it works: When artists come in to the shop at 50th and Baltimore with something to sell, Mia Lou and the artist sign a consignment contract. The shop marks up the price by 30 percent, which Fronczak calls "almost insanely low." She says she wants "to sell stuff for people, not watch it sit on the shelf," she says. "I couldn’t stand to be a shop where everything is super pricey. Handmade things are valuable, but they should be affordable, too."

In the beginning, many of the consigners were Fronczak’s crafty relatives from back home: Her mom and her four aunts sent boxes of homemade bath salts, table linens, stuffed bunny toys. Now, in addition to the Michigan contingent, about 38 artists are consigning with Mia Lou, and the products are incredibly diverse and can even be customized. Hip ceramic sake sets share shelf space with crocheted scarves and hats, helping Mia Lou earn its "general store" moniker.

Standouts include: Kate Duncan’s collage magnet sets and switchplate covers, Tamme Hoey’s purses made out of old upholstery, Cassendre Xavier’s candles and Harmony Meussner’s homemade soap. Ruth Pierich makes photo-transfer ceramic tiles that are both clever and decorative. Fronczak is an artist herself, making jewelry, hats, handbags and housewares. Even T-shirts with the Mia Lou logo, a cutout of a little fawn, are selling well.

The icing on Mia Lou’s cake is its gem of a space.

"When we first saw this building, both our jaws hit the floor," says Fronczak. "The wood in this place! Built-in cabinetry with little three-way-mirror alcoves, and they light up. The lights still work." The cabinets make excellent display cases for the work Mia Lou sells, and they still evoke the businesses that came before. Occupying 5009 Baltimore in the ’40s was a millinery and hat shop, and after that came Meme’s Fashions, a well-loved dress shop whose sign remains in Mia Lou’s window. "I can’t take it down!" Fronczak says. "So many women come in and say, 'I bought my first prom dress here.’"

The couple moved here in 2000 from San Francisco, where Fronczak worked at a clothing manufacturer and "learned all about industrial sewing machines and honed my sewing skills." Housing prices and friends in Philadelphia (Dorn grew up with Yanni Papadopoulos of the band Stinking Lizaveta) prompted the move east.

"I love the people who remember how the neighborhood used to be," she says of Cedar Park. "They [could] go right down the street, there was the grocery … the butcher, appliances, you never had to leave the neighborhood, everything you needed was here. They’re really happy to see us here, to see shops coming back. Everyone’s very supportive."

Mia Lou has started to have events on the last Saturday of the month, featuring a different artist each time. April’s featured artist is the prolific Taneasha Lightford, who makes creative but very wearable skirts and handbags out of recycled denim. The skirts have classic cuts and make beautiful use of existing stitching, while the bags are made out of the tops of jeans that have been cut off and rearranged. Each piece is fun and casual, with scraggly fringes and rivets intact, yet incredibly chic.

In addition to the artist events, Mia Lou hopes to start hosting workshops in sewing and metalwork by midsummer. They also will keep the shop open additional hours on Fridays when the Firehouse Farmers Market’s summer jazz series kicks off.

Fronczak’s memories of a visit here several years ago sound like a love letter to West Philly: "Yanni threw together some funky bikes for Sean and I, and we rode bikes all over West Philly, and basically fell in love with it. … We went to Dahlak and sat out on the patio. [A friend] said, 'You guys should move here,’ and we started to talk about it. I kept having dreams of coasting by the Philadanco sign on my bike in the sun."

Fronczak and Dorn’s fairy tale has come true: They now own a house near their friends, own a business named after their cats, make their art and support other artists. Who says there are no happy endings?

Mia Lou, 5009 Baltimore Ave., 215-471-7700. Open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Taneasha Lightford reception, Sat., April 24, 4:30 p.m.