CUMBERLAND, Md. — What do bikes, barbers and baubles have in common?

While their respective businesses are vastly different in services offered, three of downtown Cumberland’s Black business owners aim to use their shops as a way to restore and unite the community.

Making the outdoors accessible

Mandela Echefu’s sporting goods store, Wheelzup Adventures, is one of downtown’s newer businesses, having opened its doors in the spring of 2021.

The spacious, well-lit shop is located on the Baltimore Street pedestrian mall on the corner of Centre Street. Wheelzup, Echefu said, is much more than a bike shop, although the name implies that to many. In addition to bicycles, the store offers a range of outerwear and sports equipment, and the shelves on the walls are filled with everything from roller skates and skateboards to jackets.

The impact Echefu envisions for the store stretches far beyond its four walls and their wares, he said.

Echefu said the store’s business philosophy is guided by “three pillars, which are access, community and knowledge.”

Wheelzup emphasizes access, he said, by creating opportunities for folks to have new experiences, like an upcoming ski trip later this month. The store caters to building knowledge by providing hands-on classes and clinics on topics like wilderness first aid and changing bicycle tires.

Access and knowledge both blend with emphasis on community, he said.

“Most importantly, we have community,” Echefu said. “You don’t have to be alone. Everyone needs accountability.”

Weekly “Wheelzup Wednesday” meetups offered from spring to fall help toward that end, said Echefu. For an hour and a half, about half the group hikes and the other bikes on nearby trails through the city. They wrap things up by meeting for dinner.

“There hasn’t been a Wednesday where nobody showed up, so that’s a win for us,” Echefu said.

In coming months and years, Echefu said, he intends to launch walking and e-bike tours of Cumberland, as well as “a robust rental program.” The rentals, Mandela said, are intended to help make sometimes pricy outdoor equipment more accessible to a wider range of people.

Providing encouragement to get outdoors and the means to do so can also help a lot of Black folks potentially experience something new, Echefu said.

“I think it’s important that people recognize that there is a gap of diversity in the outdoors, for many reasons,” Echefu said. “The cost of entry is prohibitive, and typically the average wealth gap is significant between a Black person and a white person. We have these wonderful resources, which are in most cases free, but we have a population of people who are unable to enjoy them, to participate in that.”

Echefu urged those who have the privilege to act from a place of love and inclusion and extended an invitation to folks from underrepresented classes to come along with them on their next outdoor excursion.

“It needs to be a personal responsibility. We need to choose and make it a goal,” Echefu said. “It doesn’t have to be that hard. Say, ‘This year, I want to take two Black people to do a sport that I think they’ve never done before.’ It could be as easy as that.”

‘This is my ministry’

When folks come to see barber Kenneth Weedon at Cuttz of Encouragement, he aims to offer them spiritual counsel as well as a fresh look during their 30 minutes in his chair.

Weedon is the sole barber at the Pershing Street shop, and the space reflects his deeply-held Christian faith. The walls of the small shop are adorned with personal touches and inspirational quotes, and Weedon plays gospel music throughout the day.

“This is where God put me at to do what I do,” Weedon said. “This is my ministry.”

Learning to cut hair and getting his barber’s license was something Weedon came to later in life, he said, after spending much of his time until he was 38 years old either incarcerated or on probation. His vast range of experiences, he said, helps him relate to clients “of all ages, all cultures and all colors” who share an assortment of concerns with him.

“When they’re in this chair and they tell me their problems, I tell them some real problems that I overcame,” Weedon said. “They’d rather hear it from somebody who’s already been through something rather than reading it in a book.”

Among the pictures on the walls at Weedon’s shop is a photo of the pastor who he credits with helping him change his life’s path.

“He built me up,” Weedon said. “He brought me out of the street life, and put me on to a whole different world. Most people, I can relate to because I’ve been there.”

Weedon feels the encouragement and support he received early in his religious walk helped keep his life from going back down the same path, and he now aims to use his shop to do the same for others in the community.

“This is all about loving and working with the community,” Weedon said, “about building unity and building each other up and loving each other. I’m just here to help whoever walks through my doors.”

Blending the old with the new

In retrospect, Baltimore Street Collectibles may have been misnamed, co-owner Aaron Cole says.

“When people come in, the first thing they usually say is ‘Wow!’” Cole said. “I joke that that’s what I should have named it — Wow! Collectibles.”

When someone enters the store that Aaron runs with his mother, Faye Cole, and partner Barry Nealis, they are greeted with an array of pleasant sights, smells and sounds, as well as items old and new for sale. Nealis’ artistic capabilities as their decorator, Cole said, help make the store inviting and unique.

“The brand kind of revolves around my mother, because she’s such a classy, elegant woman,” Cole said.

As a native of Cumberland, Cole said he wants visitors to be able to get a bit of a taste of the old downtown.

“On old school Baltimore Street, everyone was well-dressed,” Cole said. “All the windows were well-dressed and all the storefronts were full. You didn’t have to go to Washington, Philadelphia or Baltimore to shop. Those people came here. I’m trying to hold onto that. You’re never going to get People’s (Drug Store), Peskin’s or Lazarus back, but we can hold onto the tradition and try and bring it back visually.”

Baltimore Street Collectibles specializes in vintage glassware, Cole said, and the store’s rotating window display showcases seasonal colors. Wandering through the store, one can find a large collection of records, antique home goods and an entire room of vintage Christmas decorations.

Baltimore Street Collectibles got its start during a flea market nearly 18 years ago, Cole said, and was formerly located in what’s now Cafe Mark before moving to its current home at 43 Baltimore. Much of their clientele, he said, comes from visitors from out of town, some from as far away as Germany. Only about 10% of their business, he estimated, is local customers.

They don’t do much business online, Cole said, because of the difficulty of shipping such fragile goods. Because so much of their business is dependent on foot traffic, Cole said, he is a bit apprehensive about what the pending renovations on the downtown mall will mean for the store.

“We’ve got to be optimistic. That’s what’s kept us going,” Cole said. “I’m just hoping for the best. It’s going to be a lot of work. I just hope it works out for all. We’re all taking a chance here.”

Beyond his store hearkening back to downtown Cumberland decades ago, Cole also hopes to see a return downtown to the hustle and bustle of the more recent past, when recurring events like Friday After Five brought a lot of traffic to the city, he said.

Regular flea markets and similar events, Cole said, would help rekindle a community atmosphere downtown and make people feel more connected to the area, helping local businesses prosper.

“Any sort of attraction to bring people downtown is what we need,” Cole said. “I’m willing to give anything a chance to get people down here.”