Black-owned businesses honored
In the 1970s Howard and Betty Fuller took an opportunity to buy a small package store on Bestgate Road in Annapolis.
Shoppers could get anything there — canned goods, beer and wine, cleaning supplies and more. State workers would frequent the store’s lunch area for sandwiches and salads too, said Ife Thompson, the Fullers’ granddaughter.
Nearly three decades later in 2003 the Fullers’ small white store was dilapidated and needed a rebuild. The couple set out to secure a loan but ran into difficulty, Betty Fuller said.
Although local banks declined to give the Fullers a loan, Harbor Bank, a Blackowned
bank in Baltimore, loaned the couple money within 48 hours, Fuller recalled.
Today, the Fullers own the whole strip at 710 Bestgate Road, which includes H&B Fuller Wine & Spirits, Capital Cleaners and a 7-Eleven store.
The Fullers’ story was one of many shared Tuesday evening at the Michael
E. Busch Library in Annapolis, where 11 Black-owned Annapolis businesses were recognized for their resilience and contributions to the community.
The celebration capped off the mayor’s office’s fourpart Black History Month series honoring the history and heritage of Annapolis’ Black community, with panels that delved into the city’s African American preservation and tourism, the arts community and future visions for the city from younger residents’ perspectives.
Tuesday’s honorees included the Fullers; George H. Phelps of Phelps Protection Systems, Inc.; Rev. John T. Chambers of Chambers & Sons Barbershop; Frank B. Chambers Sr. Brick & Stone
Masonry; Elizabeth Carr Smith and son Joe Smith of J. Smith Bus Company; Adell Walker of Charline Marie Beauty Salon; John Hunt of Hunt’s Movers; Norvaine T. Sharps Sr. of NTS Property Rentals; John and Joe Hicks of Hicks Upholstery; and William “Bill” Reese of William
Reese Funeral Home.
The businesses, called the “Elite Eleven” by Ward 3 Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell Charles, have each served the city for 50 years or more, adding up to a total of 682 years in business.
“There have been good times and not so good times, but they’ve stayed the course,” Pindell Charles said.
To commemorate the celebration, each honoree received a clock as a “testament to their existence,” she said, along with City Council citations for the families.
Spirits were lifted further with Lacey Latney’s performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” with the room joining in the chorus.
Though not every business remains in operation today, their legacies were recognized at the celebration with photos from the archives, one of which showed Pindell Charles’ husband and son at Chambers & Sons Barbershop.
Family members of the original business owners still hold onto lessons learned from their parents and grandparents.
Charline Walker Catlin, a namesake of her mother Adell Walker’s beauty salon with her sister, Marie, said her mother left her with a strong belief in owning property, rather than renting.
Charline Marie Beauty Salon’s first shop opened in 1949 and faced similar challenges to the Fullers when seeking loans from local banks, Catlin said.
Walker owned four different shops over the years, the last of which closed in 2015.
“She never complained about discrimination or racism being directed at her personally,” Caitlin said. “That did not happen.
“My mother was a businesswoman and the community of Annapolis, white and Black, respected her that way.”
Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, who co-owns several restaurants in the city, commended Black business owners for having the courage to open.
Buckley expressed love for the business community, saying he wanted to ensure it looked like the city’s population.
“I hope that we’re all moving this city in the right direction,” he said.
“The leadership that’s in the room today, you should all give yourselves a round of applause because you have made Annapolis a better place to live, and you brought some awesome businesses here that I love.”