A Little Eclectic
December 7, 2009
These days, thanks in part to the BOK Center and pure entrepreneurial spirit, it seems as though even the most staunch naysayers are admitting that something positive is happening downtown. But rewind this whole scene by four years and you've got an entirely different, and decidedly more uncertain situation. But this didn't stop Mary Babcock, who decided to roll the dice and pursue her dream of opening a unique destination gift shop. Looking back, it seems that gamble paid off. We interviewed Mary at her shop, Dwelling Spaces, on a grey blustery day in late November.
tTP: My first and possibly most important question: Why Tulsa?
Mary Beth: Well I grew up in Bartlesville. I went to college at OSU and got a degree in retail merchandising. And at that point (that was in 1995) I felt like I needed to get out of Oklahoma, so I moved to Dallas for about three years, and I found myself getting homesick. I moved to Tulsa and I've been here ever since -- about ten years or so. I've always wanted to open a gift shop, and I love Tulsa. I stayed here and I got to know more about the history and the Art Deco downtown and I could feel something about to happen with downtown Tulsa. I opened the store in 2006 after finding this space, which was a very raw space, very industrial-looking with the brick and the exposed ceilings and I just thought "This is it. This is the dream." As I get older I learn more about Tulsa, the history, the music, the unknown stuff, the underground stuff. The stuff that makes people say "What? Oklahoma?"
tTP: So you opened the store in 2006. Was this location your first choice? Did you look around much?
Mary Beth: You know, I looked on Brookside, Cherry Street, the obvious kind of places. But there's just something really cool about this downtown area. But it was scary! There's not much retail down here. There's Lyon's Indian Store, and of course the adult bookstore. But some friends of mine had opened the Soundpony Bar, and seeing them, seeing that they could open a business kind of inspired me. I knew that this thing called the BOK Center was coming, but that was a year away and it seemed so far off. I'd been to NY, down to SoHo, and I'd seen those spaces, those bare-bones kind of spaces, and I thought "I could do this". Create a little "destination" shop.
tTP: What excites you most about Tulsa right now?
Mary Beth: Right now? The momentum of downtown. I recently "jumped off the deep end" and moved downtown into the Mayo. I decided that if I'm going to do the downtown thing I'm going to do it 100%. People would come into the store and ask if I lived downtown and I'd feel a little bit guilty.
But at the current time its just the momentum. The baseball stadium coming down here, for instance. And I love music, so being downtown and close to the BOK, Brady Theater, The Cains and the smaller venues is great. It's exciting to see what bands are coming to town. Ben Folds has come in here, Sonic Youth has come in...Thrill Kill Cult, M. Ward...tons of different bands have come in, so that's exciting.
tTP: Why do you think Tulsa is a good place to start a business?
Mary Beth: I think there's a lot of support, honestly. I know mayor Taylor was really behind entrepreneurs and starting business in Tulsa. A guy named Sean Griffin has a space called the Collaboratorium, they put on a program each year that gives people opportunities to actually get money to start businesses. So I think there is a lot of support for small local business. Basically I would encourage people to follow their heart, do what they want.
tTP: How would you like to contribute to the community?
Mary Beth: Right now it's been giving a lot of local artists a place to sell their merchandise. I should say, though, that I'm very picky about what comes in. But at the moment that's the main way I see myself contributing. At some point I'd love to do some stuff with charities, but I'm just trying to figure out how to go about that.
tTP: Well on the subject of your business, which could definitely be described as something of a niche store, what made you want to get into this business?
Mary Beth: I always wanted a gift shop. I didn't realize it would go so Oklahoma-focused. I'd go to New York to market, and I just wanted stuff that was fun. Stuff that would make you smile. But then I started being introduced to local artists like Thom Self from A Studio and Louis and Cluck who do the I <3 Tulsa tshirts, and the cuddle monster...and it just kind of snowballed from there. I've always been a little eclectic and a little off.
tTP: So Aside from the local stuff, where do you find the things you sell?
Mary Beth: I go to New York, to the Javitz Center, to the International Gift Fair. But then, I see stuff at places like the Day of the Dead festival or the Blue Dome Arts Festival and I end up finding vendors there.
tTP: Do you have a favorite item that you sell?
Mary Beth: Right Now? It's the Blue Whale Christmas ornament. I love the Blue Whale, and I love Route 66 and all the roadside attractions. I've always been obsessed with the Blue Whale, and it's just so cute. I think it brings back memories for a lot of people.
tTP: You mentioned charity, but as far as the business itself is there anything you want to expand into?
Mary Beth: Well I've got the website now, which was one step. I have a mini-dream right now. I've been talking with Topeca and I've always dreamt of running a little community coffee shop here in the store. I've been approached by John Gaberino [of Topeca coffee]...so we might play with that idea. The city of Bartlesville has asked me to come set up for a Christmas thing downtown with a parade and a tree lighting and all of that, so I'll be setting up with some stuff there. But mostly right now, I want to focus on what I like to call my "Mother Ship" here.
tTP: You've got a good thing going, for sure. Last Question: What's your favorite place in the City of Tulsa?
Mary Beth: My favorite place...currently...right now...The Mayo Hotel.
You can learn more about the Tulsa Project here.
