Austin360 blogs > Almost Urban > Archives > 2007 > April > 16 > Entry
Eastside living: Butter and treasure on East 12th Street
Visitors to the Black Butterfly, a boutique at 1717 E. 12th St., are uniformly met with a warm greeting and a cheery smile from the store’s owner-operator Gloria Henry-Manor. When the Black Butterfly opened 2 years ago, it was an Afrocentric clothing store, but in the past six months or so, Gloria has shifted the emphasis to natural beauty products, which she considers her true passion. Alongside African-themed gifts and cards, she stocks a full line of Nubian Heritage lotions and body washes which are rich in African shea butter.
Gloria also sells raw shea butter by the pound for $16.99, and for special occasions she sometimes mixes up her own custom fragrance blends. Her Valentine’s Day gift baskets, which contained chocolate-covered strawberry scented shea butter, were a big hit. Visitors to the Black Butterfly are encouraged to create their own scents at the store’s natural fragrance bar, which includes oils for men and women housed in separate racks. One of the men’s fragrances is a blend called Bob Marley. No, it doesn’t smell like weed.
The fragrance oils can be purchased individually or mixed into shea butter on the spot. A small vial of oil costs $2.99 and a 6-ounce container of shea butter will run you $6.99. Those of us who spend way too much money in chain stores like the Body Shop and Bath & Body Works know this is a good deal, especially as all purchases from the Black Butterfly come nicely packaged in colored gift bags with a classy black butterfly stamped on the side.
As Gloria expands her business, she hopes to branch into natural make-up. She’s already doing custom color blends for a few of her loyal customers. Eventually, Gloria hopes to open a Black Butterfly spa featuring natural body products and a down-to-earth vibe.
The Black Butterfly is open from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
Across the street from the Black Butterfly, a new thrift store called Treasure City has recently opened. Treasure City is a volunteer-run nonprofit staffed by a friendly anarchist collective. The goal of Treasure City is to give 60 percent of proceeds to local community organizations including Inside Books, Theater Action Project and Resistencia Bookstore. With a motto of “Solidarity not Charity,” a flurry of grass-roots community activism has taken place on the spot since Treasure City opened. Bikes Not Bombs moved in next door and Food Not Bombs serves free meals for the community in front of the store on Wednesdays and Fridays. The awesome mural on the back of the building was created by graffiti artist J. Muzacz along with a group of youths he’s mentoring.
Treasure City hosts Sidewalk Sale Saturdays twice a month with goods piled in front of the store for 25 cents a pop. Your girl picked up a wooden wine rack and a cool retro salt and pepper shaker set for 50 cents at last week’s sale. Inside the store a jumble of odds and ends, housewares and knickknacks are in the front room, and racks of clothing and shelves of books are further inside. Treasure City is a true thrifter’s thrift store. Much of the inventory is priced under $5. Most shirts are priced at $3, pants and dresses are $4 and skirts and shorts are $3. Children’s clothing ranges from $1-$2. There is actual treasure at Treasure City, but it does require patient digging to unearth it. The Almost Urban thrift store score award went to my homegirl Laura Rios who scoured the Treasure City racks to find a classic Levi’s 501 denim jacket in perfect shape for $7.50.
Treasure City Thrift Store is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Comments
By Eva Lindsey
April 18, 2007 12:16 AM | Link to this
You Go Gloria, I am so pleased about this press…I know how much struggle it is to own and maintain a business. Hang in there…anything I can do to help I will…If you have business cards I can put in the Victory I will…you are a great “Sista”…a true supporter of African American culture and tradition…I’d really love to do a Saturday at the Victory for women only and of course feature your products…Buzz me when you can…474-7440 Victory Grill. Many Blessings Eva Lindsey