After its Harborplace store closed, Made in Baltimore is rebranding. Not everyone is on board.

Standing inside her renovated Hamilton storefront, Keppel & Kismet, Nichole Sullivan is living her entrepreneurial dreams — making and selling Maryland-inspired gifts.

She credits Made in Baltimore, the citywide marketing program that provides platforms for businesses to sell their goods, for introducing her to Baltimore’s maker community and helping her launch her shop after a two-decade career in project management.

“When I learned about Made in Baltimore, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is amazing,” said Sullivan, who sells lemon stick earrings, Maryland flag key chains and other gifts.

For Sullivan and some Made in Baltimore members, though, the mood has quickly soured against the program, which has seen new leadership in the past year.

These owners say the program’s leaders are poor communicators and question the initiative’s new direction, which includes the recent shuttering of its Inner Harbor store and an upcoming rebrand to “Baltimore Made.”

Most of all, they say the goodwill built over the past decade has dried up as they wait to hear what Made in Baltimore’s next phase will look like.

“People are coming in with this uncaring spirit and trying to make rules and decisions for people and communities that they haven’t even sat down at a table and had a conversation with,” said member Sam Smith, who sells healing crystal bracelets through her company, New Vintage by Sam.

Business owners say they care deeply about Made in Baltimore because they watched it bloom. Smith joined the program at its inception in 2015. Sullivan became a member three years later.

Urban planner Andy Cook founded Made in Baltimore as an initiative to promote and sell goods produced in Charm City.

Over the past decade, Made in Baltimore has grown to include rotating pop-up shops, an online store and, until last month, a corner storefront at Harborplace.

Roy Broderick Jr., who became Made in Baltimore’s executive director in December, said its lease was up and, given the planned redevelopment of Harborplace, it made sense to move on. Makers continue to sell their goods online, at farmers markets and in other shops.

Most prominently, the program’s network of businesses — which has 440 members — features a circular “Made in Baltimore” insignia on products, certifying that the wares were made here while encouraging shoppers to support their neighbors. In 2020, member businesses generated more than $32 million in revenue, according to the organization’s most recent available data.

Broderick said he’s aware of some members’ “nervousness” over the state of the program. He hopes they’ll keep an open mind.

“I’ve asked for patience,” said Broderick, who succeeded Cook. “I’ve asked for grace but also have really challenged them to stick around, give it a chance and see what the future might look like.”

Members will soon get a chance to hear those plans. On Tuesday night, the Baltimore Development Corp., the nonprofit economic development agency that operates Made in Baltimore, will host a meeting at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, where Broderick will lay out his vision.

Broderick said the rebrand to Baltimore Made is an effort to widen the program’s umbrella to include photographers, content creators and other service-based businesses. Made in Baltimore felt focused on products, he said, while Baltimore Made puts the emphasis on the business owner.

He’s also focused on improving owners’ business acumen through training on topics such as proposal writing and succession plans. Broderick said he wants to facilitate interbusiness collaborations so makers learn from each other. He’s also looking into free legal and accounting services for members.

Broderick said some creative workers excel at making their product but struggle at managing the business.

“My concern is making sure that we are nurturing both sides of the business owner,” he said.

Owners such as Sullivan, Smith and Kari Miller, owner of Tiny Dog Press, say they feel far from nurtured.

Miller said some years she made nearly $10,000 from the Made in Baltimore program. But she’s decided to leave.

Miller, whose letterpress and silk screen company sells stationery and tea towels emblazoned with Baltimore landmarks, thought the rebrand was “stupid.”

More important, she expected Broderick or a team member to say hello and solicit feedback. That hasn’t happened, she said, although Broderick said he has met with many other longtime members.

Miller felt particularly aggrieved by a Made in Baltimore email telling her to change her payment method to direct deposit by a certain date or her products would be donated.

“That was just very unprofessional and very rude,” Miller said.

In response, Broderick said he and his team, which started in March, haven’t “always gotten it right because I think there has been a learning curve on both sides.”

Broderick said he’s been encouraged by the feedback he’s received from members. The pushback, he said, reflects some owners’ resistance to change.

“There’s gonna be folks that are gonna be unhappy,” Broderick said.

Smith, of New Vintage by Sam, pointed to last month’s closure of Made in Baltimore’s Harborplace store as a turning point. The store, which occupied a prominent storefront, allowed makers to sell products on consignment.

The Inner Harbor location not only helped the business’ bottom lines but held sentimental value for makers such as Smith.

“To be able to have products in a store at the Inner Harbor, that’s huge — in the same pavilion as the Fudgery used to be,” she said. “There was a historical element to that that was just so exciting.”

A location for a new store will likely be announced in the next 60 days, Broderick said, with plans to have it open by the holiday shopping season. In the meantime, Made in Baltimore will host pop-up shops at the farmers market under the JFX on Aug. 2 and the Charm City Live music festival Sept. 5.

Sullivan, of Keppel & Kismet, acknowledged change is inevitable. The issue isn’t a change in leadership, she said, but “the lack of consideration” for members during the transition.

Still, Sullivan holds hope that the relationship can be repaired. She wants Made in Baltimore to “simply extend an olive branch.”

“It does require some humility or an apology,” Sullivan said. “It’s at least an acknowledgment that something went way wrong and let’s start over.”