Business

While high interest rates are prompting many sellers to drop prices at a record pace, almost 43% of homes in Baltimore are still selling above the listing price. In Baltimore, homes sold for an average of 100.12% of the listing price in October, meaning buyers had to shell out an extra sliver to secure houses. Baltimore is one of 27 metros where houses are selling above their list prices out of 90 metros examined in an analysis of data from Redfin Corp.

Thomas Ferleman was in the Air Force in 1985 when he and his wife started to buy pieces of art they found interesting. His military career, which focused on counter terrorism, led them to new places and cultures. As they traveled, the couple, high school sweethearts, acquired creative works they could afford. “We were very young and we didn’t know anything about art,” Ferleman said. “We bought what we liked.”

Six years ago, Kory Bailey left a startup in Indianapolis to bet on Baltimore and its burgeoning tech industry. Since then, the 44-year-old has helped to build a vibrant tech ecosystem that is primed to become a major industry in the city and state. “To me, tech is about making what seems impossible possible, and then real,” said Bailey, who was just named CEO of UpSurge, a nonprofit, professional ecosystem-building organization.

Tre “Memphis” Canady wants to bring his Southern hometown’s food to Baltimore with a marketplace location. The Soul of Memphis will hold a soft opening in the Patapsco Flea Market in the Cherry Hill neighborhood this weekend. Canady, an audio engineer by trade, said he uses homestyle and old-school methods of cooking Memphis barbecue along with Southern soul food classics like peach cobbler, country fried chicken, brisket and mac-and-cheese.

Bethesda Row’s Paul Bakery and Terrain Cafe appear to have permanently closed this month. Terrain Cafe, located at 7228 Woodmont Ave. inside Anthropologie & Co., served a variety of light fare, including cocktails, cheese boards, toast burgers and salmon. “It is with great sadness that we permanently close the doors to Terrain Cafe in Bethesda, MD, effective November 29, 2023,” a statement on the cafe’s website read. “Thank you to our customers, neighbors, and employees for the years of support.”

A Baltimore County kids’ shoe company started by a former Adidas and Mizuno executive has secured deals to get its shoes in several regional running stores. Jbrds, which focuses on making shoes built specifically for kids’ feet, will soon have its shoes in Charm City Run and Pacers stores. The deals are the first retail partnerships for the company that started selling its shoes online in August 2022 and will bring Jbrds to much of the mid-Atlantic.

Wood enthusiasts interested in sourcing timber from local trees will have a chance this weekend, when the Montgomery County parks department hosts its third annual urban wood sale, offering buyers the chance to purchase wood salvaged from area trees. Among the offerings — walnut, cherry, poplar, oak, mulberry, cypress and ash, according to a Montgomery Parks statement — will be celebrity timber: wood salvaged from Maryland’s historic Linden Oak, thought to have been more than 300 years old when it was felled in July.

Tisha Skinner operates the only Rita’s Italian Ice franchise at an airport anywhere, in Terminal C at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. She also has a Smoothie King franchise in Terminal D14 at BWI. Like a lot of vendors who run businesses in the airport, she’s excited about the multimillion-dollar improvements the state plans to make over the next several years at BWI.