©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Bottom of Chestnut Hill is SO Happy
by Kristin Pazulski

The boutiques, restaurants and other retailers to the south of Southampton Avenue are making a name for themselves – literally. SOHA, or South of Hartwell Lane, developed because business owners on Germantown Avenue south of Hartwell wanted their strip of stores to be known as something less derogatory than “Bottom of the Hill,” which it is often called.

The name SOHA is a spin-off of New York City’s SOHO district. It is an acronym for “South of Hartwell Lane” because, originally, that’s where the shops involved were located. But when the businesses north of Hartwell caught wind of the idea, they asked to join (and “Southampton Avenue” does work with SOHA).

“We needed our own identity,” said Lei Winson, who owns Iris of Chestnut Hill, 8135 Germantown Ave. She added that “lower” or “bottom” “sounded negative.” She said the current SOHA shops would welcome even more south of Southampton businesses if they wished to join, though she was quick to add that the SOHA shops were not looking to separate themselves from the “Top of the Hill.”

SOHA is an effort to attract people shopping at the Top of the Hill to shops farther down the Hill as well. John S. Jenks and Christ Ascension Lutheran Church, between Gravers Lane and Southampton, offer a break in the commercial retails stores that line Germantown Avenue, what Richard Maloumian described as a “dead spot.” Maloumian, whose wife owns the SOHA shop Lavender Hill, at 8121 Germantown Ave., is among the movers and shakers establishing SOHA.

The Top of the Hill has the pull of larger, corporate stores such as Chico’s Casual Clothing and Borders Book Shop and Café, Winson said. The area north of Southampton usually receives the Avenue entertainment, too.

Maloumian said it’s also getting tougher to compete with the larger shopping centers, such as the one on Chemical Road. “Product to product, they have us beat,” he said. But SOHA members are looking to offer the Main Street, “happy street” entertainment.

The organization is trying to pull together performaners – from musicians to puppeteers, magicians and face painters – to entertain on weekends for SOHA, gratis. “We’ve got to bring someone to the street to magnetize the visitors to the stores,” Maloumian said. “We want people to come out to the Avenue on Saturday and Sunday and get happy.”

“We want to make it fun, feel like we have our own little niche,” said Cindy DeMaio, co-owner of Lemons and Limes, at 8127 Germantown Ave., with daughter Laura.

The entertainment, Maloumian said, would not be paid, with the idea that playing on the street would give them free publicity. Interested artists may contact him at 215-248-1695.

Contact staff writer Kristin Pazulski at 215-248-8819 or kristin@chestnuthilllocal.com.