Photograph by Jennifer Hengst
When St. Louis city shut down the crumbling railroad bridge at the 3300 block of Morgan Ford in January 1997, it wasn’t supposed to be closed for a year and a half. Construction cut through the center of the business district, and by the time the bridge reopened in ’98, many of the little shops and bars (there were 17 taverns alone in the early ’90s) had shuttered.
Empty storefronts are often breeding grounds for criminal mischief, and Morgan Ford developed a reputation, deserved or not, for being sketchy. You’d never guess that now: It seems like a new business opens every few months. The crazy thing is, when the Tin Can and Grove Furnishings opened their doors here in spring 2005, people thought they were nuts. The street was pretty quiet then, even though businesses like Guarantee Electric, Imo’s Pizza and 7-Eleven had managed to hang on for years.
Ana Casey, Morgan Ford Business Association president, says that neighborhood associations, residents and police did a lot of heavy lifting before she and Bill Waggoner opened Grove Furnishings three years ago. “You just stay on top of things,” she says. “If you see graffiti, it comes down. If you see someone who might be causing trouble, you tell them to move along. It’s amazing what a little ownership will do.”
Many of these small businesses own their buildings and are therefore invested in the neighborhood. But Morgan Ford’s greatest resources may be its human ones, the network of relationships between friends and neighbors who are invested not only in property, but also in each other. Here’s a chronological look at how they made it happen.
A&M Bicycles
4282 Arsenal
Opened: In the 1930s, though current proprietor Karl Becker bought the business in 2000 and the building in 2003; he’s worked here since 1998.
The Back Story: Becker says the majority of his business is repair, though he also sells commuter bikes. The business dovetails with the neighborhood: young, urban and pedestrian/bicycle-friendly. “I’m on the corner, by a bus stop, so I see the rougher side of Morgan Ford,” Becker says. “I used to see drug dealers and prostitutes … but now, they’re just not out there.” (ambicycles.blogspot.com)
Southside Mower Repairs
3200 Morgan Ford
Opened: 1989
The Back Story: People bring their broken lawn mowers—push, gas, electric—to Tom Frank from as far away as High Ridge and Chesterfield. Frank grew up in the neighborhood and remembers the nearby Terri Apartments being built: “We used to run around in the footings when they were building it, when we were kids.” He says that the street “used to be like Dodge City,” but he’s heartened by the improvements he’s seeing.
2nd Chance Auto Sales
3430 Morgan Ford
Opened: 1991
The Back Story: Dan Tyree’s lot has cars on it, but 2nd Chance’s unique niche on this street is its scooters. “We carry formerly Italian scooters,” says Dan Phillips, whose son Spencer is the resident scooter mechanic. “MotoFino’s not Italian anymore, so they’re a couple grand less; we’re more price-conscious.” And community-conscious: Scooter groupies hold Ride-a-Thons up and down Morgan Ford and come by daily to talk scooter trivia, have a cup of coffee and get their rides tuned up.
Tin Can Tavern and Grille
3157 Morgan Ford
Opened: March 2005
The Back Story: A high-concept, low-pretense tavern that serves more than 50 types of canned beer, the Tin Can has done so well the owners recently opened a new downtown location across from F15teen. Co-owner Josh Alt says they looked at the Loop, Lafayette Square and the Central West End, but landlords weren’t buying into their idea. Morgan Ford offered affordable real estate—and creative freedom. In 2004, Alt says, the area was “not great” because so many of the buildings were boarded up. “About a year to 18 months ago,” he says, “that’s when things really started to pop.” (tincantavern.com)
Grove Furnishings
3169 Morgan Ford
Opened: April 2005
The Back Story: Bill Waggoner lives in the neighborhood and has owned this building for more than six years. He rehabbed it himself and leased it out until he and Ana Casey decided to open a shop that carried hand-crafted furniture, accessories and art, much of it sourced from local craftspeople. It was serendipity that the Tin Can opened the month prior. “We would commiserate on the challenges of starting a business,” Casey says. “I remember seeing the guys one morning, and I was like, ‘Hey, guys, how’s it going?’ And they said, ‘We fell asleep on the floor at 4 in the morning … and got up for deliveries at 5.’ But that’s what it takes when you’re first starting out.” (grovefurnishings.com)
Tower Pub
3234 Morgan Ford
Opened: October 2005
The Back Story: Rob Merli and his fiancée, Erin Rubinelli, bought this building after it had changed hands a few times; in a prior life, this was Winfield’s, a Morgan Ford fixture. Merli knows the bar business, having worked for Llewellyn’s for a few years, and sings the praises of the diversity of the clientele his tavern is attracting. “During the day, we attract a lot of locals, older people getting off work,” he says. “At night, we get the younger kids our age.”
Stella Blues
3269 Morgan Ford
Opened: August 2006
The Back Story: Chris Van Hoogstraat spent months looking for a space to open his bar, but made a stake in Morgan Ford after the Tin Can opened. “That was the first younger bar on this street,” he says. “We found this vacant building and renovated the whole thing. We cater mostly to neighborhood people during the day, but we also get a younger crowd.” The kids come down, just as with Tower Pub and Tin Can, for the trivia and the live music. (stellabluesstl.com)
T.F.A. Warehouse & Showroom
3200 Morgan Ford
Opened: October 2006
The Back Story: This T.F.A. store is a second location—the company’s first remains open on South Grand. “People are investing a lot into the properties,” owner Claude Denis says of the Morgan Ford area, “and that could be why the growth is so quick.” The warehouse has showrooms of midcentury furniture, draperies and accessories, but the owners also maintain an enormous warehouse space in the back. At press time, they had taken off the old storefront to reveal the original black, red and gray Vitrolite façade, which will be cleaned and restored. (tfa50s.com)
Vintage Haberdashery
3181 Morgan Ford
Opened: Winter 2006
The Back Story: Owner Jolie Mackney’s vintage clothing store was a profitable fixture on South Grand for 12 years. But as the area got trendier, rents rose; by 2003 she was the last vintage clothier in the area. Mackney spent two years looking for a place to relocate and eventually purchased a building on Morgan Ford. “I was so nervous when I made the plan to move here,” she says, “but I had faith in the street! And I have not been disappointed.” (vintagehab.com)
Big Small Town Designs
3148 Morgan Ford (above Local Harvest)
Opened: January 2007
The Back Story: Owner/designer Bill Michalski is known for his wry, St. Louis–centric postcards celebrating local cultural icons like lawn Madonnas. He’s friends with Local Harvest’s owners, as well as real-estate agent Fred Hessel, who owns the building. But it was the former KWMU personality Tom Weber who tipped Michalski off that there was space available above the grocery. “I remember standing on the sidewalk,” he says, “looking down the street, thinking about what this could be in five years … It’s pretty exciting.” (bigsmalltown.com)
The Coke Law Firm and Wild Tile
3187 Morgan Ford (by appointment only)
Opened: June 2007
The Back Story: Attorney Jennifer Coke co-owns the building with her former sorority sister, Tess Barnett. “When I say my office is in Tower Grove, on Morgan Ford,” she says, “you see that look on their face, like, ‘Why do you have your office there?’ They don’t know the area is coming up.” Above Coke’s office, custom-tile artist Barnett runs her business. Though her work is available through Cabinets, Flooring & More, the Tower Grove East area is full of creative young professionals rehabbing old houses—the perfect audience for custom glass-tile work—so she jumped at the chance to go in on the building. (thecokelawfirm.com, wildtile.net)
Local Harvest Grocery
3148 Morgan Ford
Opened: June 2007
The Back Story: When Patrick Horine and wife Jenny Ryan watched their fledgling Tower Grove Farmers’ Market take off in 2006, they decided a year-round grocery offering local organic food had a good chance to succeed, too. And boy, did it. The couple, along with additional part-owner Maddie Earnest, will soon expand across the street to 3137 Morgan Ford, where they will relocate their catering and deli operations and rent out space to people making their own packaged foods. “We want it to be like a kitchen incubator,” Ryan says. (localharvestgrocery.com)
Three Monkeys
3153 Morgan Ford
Opened: November 2007
The Back Story: Nothing signaled the arrival of Morgan Ford quite like Three Monkeys, whose opening was anticipated by residents all over the city. Co-owner Stephanie Demma, who used to manage Stella Blues, says they already plan to expand. “The clientele is very diversified,” Demma says, “and that works for us.” You’ll often see young single people here for happy hour, as well as groups of retirees, married couples with kids and everything between. (threemonkeysstl.com)
Eve’s Garden
3150 Morgan Ford
Opened: March 2008
The Back Story: Developer and massage therapist Henry Schweinsberg has transformed the Victorian house next door to Local Harvest into … we don’t want to use a cliché, but “urban oasis” just suits. A combination gallery/healing arts center, it features individual massage rooms, including one on the back porch, that look out onto the lushly planted back yard. Downstairs, there’s a reading library of books on ecology and spirituality. And on the back deck: a king-sized hot tub, which in the spring and summer will be completely screened and shaded by surrounding trees.
