Cooling Down, Caribbean Style

Driving by the busy 400 block of York Road, it's easy to miss Jamaica Bay, a small gift shop tucked between and . 

But inside the shop, one will find not only a store, but a man behind the counter exploding with personality. 

Seymour Anson, a native of Kingsvale, Jamaica, opened Jamaica Bay just seven weeks ago. The shop sells everything from Indian-inspired skirts and colorful jewelry to sunglasses and handbags. 

During the summer months, Anson sells Italian water ice, which comes in flavors like watermelon, passion fruit, mango and blueberry. He plans to sell Jamaican coffee starting in October. 

In the back of the store, Anson runs a small head shop with intricately designed tobacco pipes, hookahs and other accessories. 

Anson says he enjoys Towson and feels accepted by the area. 

"Someone compared me to [another person] on the other side," Anson says. "I say the other side is like the Grateful Dead, and I'm Bob Marley." 

Anson moved from Jamaica to the United States with five of his six siblings when he was 13 years old. After studying business at Penn State for a few years, he decided to open his own restaurant nearby, focusing on Caribbean-style cuisine. When running the business became too difficult, Anson packed up and moved to Florida, where he helped manage a friend's business.

Picking up and moving on to the next adventure seems to be Anson's motto. He's spent six years in the retail and head shop business, traveling up and down the East Coast. After the lingerie shop Love Ones closed in March, Anson responded to an advertisement on Craigslist for the space and moved to Towson. 

In opening his new business, Anson wanted to create a cool, airy atmosphere similar to the environment in Jamaica. He repainted the walls a bright orange color and filled his window display case with sand and a cheery palm tree.

All of his work is in preparation for further plans. Anson says he hopes move back to Jamaica in 10 years to focus on another interest—farming. 

“I’m trying to get something steady here, and then I can move back to get [to] what I really want to do." 

While business has been slow without college students in town, it doesn't seem to worry Anson. In Jamaica, he says most work opportunities exist in the large tourism industry. 

“Most of the kids that graduate, they just go straight to work for hotels or banks," he says. "I’m not into that process. I like [being] hands on, doing the dirty work.”

For Anson, it's all about the customer service, a quality that he attributes to his home country. He hands out free samples of Italian ice and greets his customers with a calm, cool greeting:  "Come on in, boss." 

"I’m here just trying to be someone’s friend," Anson says. "Even if someone’s having a bad time, they can come in here, cool off, and get back on their journey.”