You can shop at The Lunchbox, but don't expect lunch.

Not yet, at least.

Connie Neiman opened the shop on July 4 at 1332 Sulphur Spring Road, near the intersection with East Drive.

She said she wanted to open the store on the holiday to take advantage of the crowds drawn by the annual parade and other events.

The store sells candies and pastries in addition to small gift items, such as painted flower pots, colorful sandals and rolling pins, among other items.

Neiman said she hopes to expand and start selling sandwiches, salads and desserts on a carryout basis within a few months.

"I'm going to let that sort of unfold as I go along and I see what the local community would like to have here," she said.

Neiman enlisted her lifelong friend, Pam Michaels, to run the gift shop while she concentrates on establishing a box lunch catering service for area businesses.

This is not the Baltimore native's first experience with food service.

She worked at Henninger's Ale House in Fells Point for about 10 years before selling it, then ran a catering business called Henninger and White for six years.

She said kept her former married name of Henninger as her middle name after marrying Jim Neiman nearly a year ago.

She left the food service business behind 15 years ago to become an insurance broker.

But she said she missed preparing food for others and wanted to start a new catering business.

"I think you're never too old to reinvent yourself," she said.

"This is probably one of the most exciting and happiest times of my life and that's a remarkable statement for somebody that's going to be 53."

As she and her husband looked for a location for the catering service, they found the former bakery and doughnut shop on Sulphur Spring Road more than met their requirements.

Connie Neiman said the full commercial kitchen in back and retail space in front stirred up an idea to work with Michaels and put together a gift shop.

Neiman said she and her husband often worked late into the night during the six weeks they spent renovating and preparing the store and kitchen for last week's opening.

But the long hours brought more enjoyment than her previous position in the insurance industry, she said.

"I no longer felt the fulfillment and the reward coming from sitting at a computer 10 hours a day," she said.

She and Michaels hope to hold arts and craft classes in the shop for children and adults, starting as summer ends, Neiman said.

Neiman hopes to post information about the upcoming classes on her Web site (www.thelunchboxlady.com) in the future.

To incorporate herself into the Arbutus community, she said she's looking to work with local artists and craft makers to sell their works in her Lunchbox store.

The Lunchbox is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

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