Archive: Business & Technology

The Edge at 107 South Cayuga Street is one of downtown Ithaca’s newest businesses. It’s also the second location for the Syracuse-based clothier. Unique World at 103 The Commons in the Commons West Plaza recently expanded into one of the Plaza’s street-level storefronts and will continue to operate its basement level store, which has been a favorite of many downtown shoppers and art collectors since it opened in 2002. 

The Downtown Ithaca Alliance hosts ribbon-cutting ceremonies for both businesses today, May 15, 2009. The ribbon-cutting for The Edge will be held at 12:30 p.m., while the ribbon-cutting for Unique World will be held a short while later at 12:50 p.m. Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson is scheduled to attend both ceremonies.

The Edge at 107 South Cayuga Street offers the same quality men’s and women’s clothing that’s available in finer specialty boutiques, but at discount prices and still in a boutique setting. The South Cayuga Street store is an expansion for co-owners James Horan and Brian Scanlon, who still own and operate The Edge in Syracuse’s Armory Square.

Horan says the duo has been considering an expansion into Ithaca for several years. “We also looked at Rochester, New Hartford and Saratoga, but Ithaca seemed like the best fit for us right now, so we decided to expand here. We chose downtown and the Commons, because we feel it gives us the best opportunity to cater to local residents, tourists and college students, who are all part of our target market.”

Ethiopian-born Yehuala Terefe opened Unique World in the basement level of the Commons West Plaza at 103 The Commons in 2002. She and her partner Alan Cameron commuted to Ithaca every day from Scranton, PA for the first six months that Unique World was open. Unique World specializes in female fashions that range from casual to dressy to trendy, in styles that are found everywhere from L.A. to India to Ethiopia. Unique World is also an art gallery featuring the works of Terefe’s partner, Alan Cameron who’s works on are display and also for sale.

Terefe says she chose downtown Ithaca and the Commons in particular, as the location for Unique World because of its international flavor, both in terms of merchants and visitors. “Ithaca and The Commons in particular are very open and friendly places that attract people from around the world. I knew the first time I visited the area that it would be the ideal location to open a business featuring both unique fashions and fine art work in one place.’

Ithaca Renting Company owner Jason Fane stated, “We welcome The Edge to Ithaca, and congratulate Unique World on the addition of their new street level store.  IRC is committed to Ithaca and to working with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and City of Ithaca to preserving and improving the central downtown area”.   

The expansions of Unique World and The Edge come on the heels of the opening of Ithacards, which is the third Ithaca Commons business for Emma Lou and Abdul Razak Sheikh, who also own House of Shalimar and T-Shirt Express, and just before the opening of the expanded Cinemapolis, which is scheduled for early June.     

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