By Samantha Murphy:
Gloria’s No Limit Store, located at 95 Allen Street, has brought beautiful, unique clothing to the Allen community. Gloria’s No limit officially opened its doors on June 1, 2011. The store is owned and operated by Gloria McHenry. Born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio this Buck-Eye girl moved to Buffalo and never looked back.
Gloria’s No Limit Store features all women’s apparel, especially dresses, jean wear, jewelry, and accessories. The store also offers body lotions and body oils. Apparel ranges from $20 to $35 and the body lotions and oils start at $5.
McHenry describes the clothing in her store as classy, dressy, affordable, and comfortable. The clothing appeals to anyone from ages 20 to 55.
While the store has only been open about two months, business is already going great.
“Business is going really well,” McHenry said. “I’ve had some really busy days and some slower days, but that’s expected to happen in any business.”
Before opening up her own store, McHenry was busy working full time as a baker for a local hotel. Tired of working long and early shifts and not spending quality time with her husband, McHenry finally decided to take a leap of faith and open her own store.
“Certain things had to happen at my job to make me say okay I’m ready,” McHenry said. “I started at 2:30 in the morning and wasn’t done until 11:00am. By the time I would come home I was exhausted. My husband and I had to find something to help us balance our marriage. Finally, I just decided I would go for it.”
Unlike many small business owners, McHenry had her own personal guide, her husband. Her husband has owned and operated his own boutique for over twenty years. Class Act Boutique is only a block away from Gloria’s No Limit and features both men’s and women’s apparel.
McHenry admits that opening up your own business is not an easy thing to do.
“I was in fear for quite a while,” she said. “You hear a lot of stories and a lot of negativity. I just had to put that all behind me and move forward. Life is a risk, so I took the chance.”
As for her location on Allen Street, she couldn’t be happier.
“Allentown is a great community,” she said. “I really love all of the different cultures and different nationalities. I couldn’t have picked a better location. All of the traffic, the local restaurants and hotels nearby really help my business.”
As for taking that risk, Gloria McHenry is very glad she did.
“I used to think to myself, ‘There has to be something better out there for me,'” McHenry said. “Everybody has to start somewhere. And I did. It was tough but I did it. I’m so much happier now.”
Gloria’s No Limit is open:
Monday – Thursday: 11-8
Friday: 11-9
Saturday: 12-7
Sunday: Closed
95 Allen Street
Buffalo NY 14201
Phone: 716-884-3171
Buffalo Rising
Sometimes the authors at Buffalo Rising work on collaborative efforts in order to cover various events and stories. These posts can not be attributed to one single author, as it is a combined effort. Often times a formation of a post gets started by one writer and passed along to one or more writers before completion. At times there are author attributions at the end of one of these posts. Other times, “Buffalo Rising” is simply offered up as the creator of the article. In either case, the writing is original to Buffalo Rising.