America’s Best Independent Design Shops: Good Neighbor

Shawn Chopra and his wife, Anne Morgan, drew inspiration from their respective Indian and Egyptian heritages when they established Good Neighbor, a design shop-cum-cafe in Baltimore’s lively Hampden neighborhood. "The whole concept was like going to your neighbor’s home," Chopra says. "In both our cultures it’s common to welcome someone, give them something nice to eat, and make sure they have a nice chair to sit in."

In that accommodating spirit, Good Neighbor lets visitors test-drive its merchandise by offering an inexpensive menu of light provisions with international influences, served on stylish tableware available in the store. "Even if you can’t buy the fifty-dollar mug, you can still drink from it while you’re here," Morgan says. Customers can also browse the store’s rotating collection of ceramics and woodwork by Baltimore designers along with textiles, furniture, and housewares by national and global brands.