angElina, a collEctivE spacE For EntrEprEnEurs

Angelina, an eclectic community of entrepreneurs

The cost of starting-up a business leads to a collective effort

Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal

The entrepreneurial spirit is a family trait for Laura Feliciano, a.k.a. Laura OM. Back in the 1960s and 70s, her grandmother owned and operated an ice plant on Hoare Street, in Santurce, while her grandfather sold chickens. So, it didn’t surprised anyone in her family when she decided to open a beauty salon when she came back from the U.S. in the early 2000s.

“I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was 23… I’ve been in the restaurant business, in entertainment and in cultural venues while still operating my beauty salons,” said the beautician. “Those were additional activities I dived into, but the salons have been a constant.”

A Santurce resident, Laura’s sense of entrepreneurship is very connected to the community she lives in. She considers Santurce “the heart of San Juan” not because of a nostalgic memory of a time long gone, but because of its very convenient location –within walking distance from Condado, the beach, Old San Juan and a bus ride away from Río Piedras. Also, Santurce is a diverse community that still manages to stay put, despite the urban sprawling that characterized Puerto Rico during the 1970s and 80s.

With that in mind, Laura bought the building where the old Sal’s Beauty Supplies store was located on Ponce de León Avenue. She was looking for a place big enough as to house a community

… I’ve rented some commercial spaces to small entrepreneurs which are committed to work collectively for our success.

Laura OM, beauty specialist and entrepreneur

OM Studio beauty salon at Angelina.

of entrepreneurs that could collaborate with each other to develop their businesses and push them forward.

“‘Angelina’ is now that space. I have my salons here, and at the same time I’ve rented some commercial spaces to small entrepreneurs which are committed to work collectively for our success,” Laura said. It has always been my intention to support other entrepreneurs that don’t have all the financial resources needed to open their own businesses.”

The Santurce businesswoman pointed to the difficulties of opening a business “from scratch.”

“The whole thing is very expensive… from the permits, equipment, utilities, insurance… All these cost a lot,” she said.

At ‘Angelina,’ business owners rent an “all included” space that affords them to start up their businesses without having to get in debt.

Business owners here rent their space with

Tereques-La Tiendita, accesories and crafts shop at Angelina.

utilities and insurance included in their rent. “We try to do everything collectively. We hold events where everyone has the chance to benefit and we all help each other. We even try to make decisions together, as a community,” Laura said. At the moment there are five businesses operating in ‘Angelina,’ including Laura’s two beauty salons, OM Studio and “Rizo Adentro.” OM Studio is a professional salon that offers its clientele all beauty services, from cutting and styling, to dyeing and makeup. On the other hand, “Rizo Adentro” is what is now known as a ‘blow bar’ that specializes in quicker, less complicated services, such as blow drying, and styling. Laura also offers custom hair dyeing –with colors mixed to order in her own color room– and her own lines of hair care products –OM My Goodness and Maranta Power. Other members of the ‘Angelina’ community are:

Tereques-La Tiendita

An arts and crafts and accessories shop, Tereques has a diverse inventory from women artisans that design their own jewelry lines, crafts and art pieces. “Aside from being an incubator for emerging brands, Tereques is also a tool for the development of those brands,” said owner Belisa Álvarez, who is convinced of the benefits of collective work. “This is not just about the financial advantages, but also about business and emotional support,” she added while catering to one of the salon’s customers waiting for her hairdo to be finished.

Vía Láctea (ice cream shop)

Lorivie Alicea started out making regular ice cream, but her business partner Reinaldo Sánchez is lactose intolerant, so she decided to do some batches of vegan ice cream so he could enjoy a good sundae. Then, all of a sudden she realized she had been making more vegan (coconut milk based) flavors than regular milk-based ice cream. Vía Láctea clients are diverse. “I see them walking around in their robes, hair rollers and little aluminum

In fact, pieces on their hair and talking about what they are getting done to their hair. They buy their ice cream and go back to the At ‘Angelina,’ [beauty] salon. A little later they business owners come back to show me how they rent an “all included” look with their new hairdos,” space that affords Alicea said. “It’s very cool.” them to start up their businesses Cafelera (coffee shop) without having to get This coffee shop is the first in debt. thing you see walking down ‘Angelina’s’ main hallway, right under the stair to the second floor –hence, Cafelera, a mashup between the Spanish words for coffee (café) and stair (escalera). “This is a small space, but is cozy and it looks nice,” said owner Addiel Rivera. “The best thing here is that there are other businesses here and people have the chance of getting their hair done, which takes a little time, and have a cup of coffee, or maybe a sandwich, while they wait.” Laura assured her business successful enough for her to assume the full cost of its operation, “but that is not my mission as an entrepreneur or as a person.” “My mission as an entrepreneur is being able to lend a hand to someone that is in the same situation I was 20 years ago,” she said.