Passion drives partners to open Flames clothing store

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook staff writer

Valarie Joiner has had a feeling for about three years now about opening an apparel store for women. What she felt reached a boiling point in May.

Back then, she and her friend Terrance Baker leased a room in a strip plaza at 1102 South Adams Street to set up the store. They’ll have the grand opening of Flames on Saturday at noon.

The time can’t come fast enough for Joiner, who was anxiously putting the finishing touches on decorating the space last week. Never mind that they are about to become first-time business owners in the midst of a pandemic, she said, beaming with optimism..

“I just feel like when I get something in my gut I’m going to do it,” Joiner said. “I don’t really care what society says; it’s going to happen. I just go with it.”

During the grand opening, Joiner and Baker will have a back to school drive. The Urban League will collaborate on the event, said Curtis Taylor, President/CEO of the organization.

Having a partnership is a big help because hundreds of children have dire needs for the opening of school next month, Taylor said.

“We want to look at everything that we can do for students to make their life better; make their family life better and for them to have a better learning environment,” he said. “We want to work with this young lady and when she has her grand opening we want to be there to support her 100 percent.”

509 Caribbean Cuisine is also partnering on the drive.

The grand opening will culminate an idea that Joiner and Baker started with selling clothes online. They delivered every paid order. The business blossomed.

They knew then it was time to make the move to brick and mortar because of the grind of driving to their customers.

“I got tired of riding around delivering clothes,” Joiner said. “I felt I would rather have some place where people could come in and browse around; look at the whole collection without me having to show them piece by piece.”

The place is quaint, with brick-designed paneling. In addition to mannequins, clothes are hung along the walls on hooks that resemble exposed plumbing.

Most of the designs are the creation of Baker, who admits his best work is done behind the scene.

The couple has been friends, going back to when they attended Godby High School. They graduated in 2011. Each of them holds down a day job – she with the Postal Service and he as a truck driver for Sysco, a restaurant food delivery company.

Their work hours will limit them to operating the store from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.

The hours of preperation since May have been long and laborious, but Joiner said they are driven by a passion for what they do.

“It’s a process but I just feel like as long I have the energy to do it we have to do it,” she said.  “We have put a lot of money into it so we want to see the profit. At this point, we are drained so we want to hurry up and start prospering.”