Behind the Counter: The Bead

As far as sisters and coworkers go, Anne Liner and Idy Harris are pretty inseparable.

The pair, both Pikesville residents, own , a clothing and jewelry store in that recently marked its 45th birthday.

Billed as a "unique store for unique women," as Liner put it, the store first opened on Read Street in Baltimore in 1967, with the help of their mother Belle Bashoff, who passed away in 2000. The shop moved to Towson in 2004.

Over the years, their selection of casual and designer fashion has attracted celebrity clientele, including Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Carly Simon.

Liner, 64, and Harris, 67, took some time away from the shop to chat with Patch.

Tell me how the store came to be.

Liner: I was 18 and I was making jewelry. My father had died and we had no money. I had a dream that I could make antique jewelry. ... A lot of people have dreams and don't act on them but my mom was amazing and she was very, very, very supportive of everything that I said. And she said "I think we should make jewelry," and she went with me to Providence, RI, and we got bindings to make jewelry and I started making jewelry from our apartment and selling them at school.

And then it got too cluttered in my apartment, too many beads all over the place, then a friend called and said there was an empty store down on Read Street.

... All we had between the three of us was $1500 and my mother gave me all the money to invest in the store.

So for $1500, for 45 years later, three families have survived. ... We hired thousands of people over the years who still come in today and bring in their children and grandchildren and say "Hey do you remember me? I worked for you in 1969," "I worked for you in 1979," so it's a fabulous experience just coming to work every day, it's great.

Tell me how fashion trends have changed.

Liner: What's really interesting is that the things we were selling in the '60s have come back and there are very similar things today, so we're very aware of the trends and the styles because we've done them already.

Harris: Anne used to be the clothing buyer, and one day she came to me and said "I'm done. You go." So I became the clothing buyer and I changed the men's and unisex [sections] to women's.

What we sell basically now is today a comfortable, casual-lifestyle clothing. Some stretch in the waist. Some elastic. We make it very comfortable for women who are in their 40s and up. When things aren't perfect anymore, we adjust for that.

History of protest

Liner: People still call us the hippie store. ... My mother was arrested for putting the peaceflag in the window when the Hard Hats marched in the 60s. We were against the Vietnam War.

We keep the peace symbol up as a reminder.

Harris: They took her out of the store at gunpoint.

Liner: [Anne and I] were in New York [at the time]. They came into the store and took her out and all these teenagers who were working the store had to stay there by themselves. There was this huge protest (against her arrest) downtown because everyone called her Ma Bead and everybody loved her and she was this icon.

There were protests and it was unbelieveable and the ACLU wanted to represent her in the case and we were getting threatening phone calls from an anonymous source saying "Oh, I wonder how your wiring is in your store. I think it needs to be inspected." And it was just crazy.

All this against a jewelry store?

Liner: That peace flag, it was an off-duty policeman who looked at it and said he could see stars. He said it was a desecration of the American flag. So she got probation before judgment but she was out and she was an icon. Everybody knew this story.

What's the secret of keeping a store like this around for 45 years?

Harris: Honesty with our customers.

Liner: Customers will tell you women like to shop with a friend because they need a real opinion. Most stores work on commission. We never have commission. And when Idy trains the girls, we tell them we would rather lose the sale. Because when someone leaves the store feeling good about themselves, we feel that's the best advertising.

People come to us with empty luggage and say "I'm going away tomorrow, fill me up." Or "I'm having a dinner party in two hours. Dress me."

Harris: Or they're getting married tomorrow.

Liner: We've had that too. So they know that if they come in, we'll fix them up and get them ready to go.