Amanda Mack, who runs the Black-family-owned restaurant, Crust by Mack, is bringing her delicious baked goods to Baltimore’s iconic Harborplace.
According to the Baltimore Banner, developer P. David Bramble is looking to bring Black business owners into the Harborplace, an iconic retail space in Baltimore that is being remade.
Bramble, also managing partner and co-founder of MCB Real Estate, decided he wanted to work with Mack after tasting her pastries.
“I knew at some point I wanted her to be part of some of the things we were doing in Baltimore,” Bramble said to the Baltimore Banner. “I wasn’t able to eat the stuff that people love the most. But I’ve had lots of the other stuff. And man, it’s delicious. And it’s mostly sold out when you get there. She’s a natural fit.”
“It was truly the heart of Baltimore. It didn’t matter how much money you had; it was a central point and meeting point for residents to take in all the beauty that Baltimore has to offer,” Mack said of bringing her business
to the Harbor.She added: “Waterfront real estate statistically in Baltimore isn’t for Black-owned small businesses even though Black people make up more than half of these businesses’ consumer base. We are reduced to stands, windows, and carts to sell our products because, systemically, it’s assumed that we can’t handle this type of operation.”
According to the Baltimore Banner, the city’s Harbor was once a major slave trading post.
“This is where we came from,” Mack’s mother, Tiffany Wingate, said. “My heart melted when I found out she was getting a space here because our history is on this water. Where we started does not determine where we end up.”
“Culturally, we were brought here, sold here. The Harbor was one of the ports that our ancestors were brought to and sold. To be on the water and be connected to the ancestors, it’s not just a humbling experience; I want to pay homage to them,” Mack said.
Crust By Mack will also offer entertainment for its guests.
“We’re going to bring music, entertainment, culture, and art. We’re going to bring the culture down to the Inner Harbor,” Mack said.