Cooperative Living October 2014 - 34

She's International, on
Salem's Main Street, is
where Diane Speaks
(lower right) practices
her passion ... fashion
... from places far afield.
Her daughter, now fully grown, was
thus essentially raised at the inn. And
what an inn it is. Decadently adorned
with antique walnut and cherry furnishing
as well as sumptuous jacquard
and velvet curtains, Burwell Place
offers me an evening's respite in a
three-room suite with four-poster bed,
fireplace, sleeping porch, and whirlpool
bath. In the morning, I find a sumptuous
breakfast left outside my door.
Despite the romance of this inn,
COLLECTIONS OF
ANOTHER KIND
Diane Speaks, owner of She's
International on neighboring Salem's
Main Street, is a collector of another
kind. Her passion is fashion ... from
places far afield. A flight attendant with
U.S. Airways, Speaks has always loved
to travel and shop in the various
European locales she visits. After 9/11,
her salary was cut by 40 percent, and
she was scrambling for a way to make
up the difference. A friend suggested
she try to make money from her passion
- which was shopping in Europe.
That was the beginning of She's
International, which sells fashion, jewelry,
purses, and other accessories that
Speaks has picked out herself on shopping
excursions in places ranging from
Amsterdam to Brussels. She's even done
some scavenging for luxuries in Israel.
" They have fabulous jewelry there, "
she remarks. Speaks obtains a lot of her
treasures from wholesale shopping districts
and jewelry fairs. " I buy what I
like, " she says. " I feel like I have very
good taste. "
Speaks is also very particular about
how she buys. She never purchases
more than one of any item because she
knows her customers, mostly local,
come to her because they want clothes
and accessories unlike anything anyone
else has.
A former military brat, Speaks has
lived in London as well as Japan and
has a home in Philadelphia, the city
from which she flies, as well as Salem,
her hometown of 38 years and the
32
place where she raised her four
children (two of them her
deceased sister's kids). " Because
we fly for free, the kids have
been everywhere, " Speaks says.
" One daughter has been to all seven
continents. "
Given how much she travels,
however, Speaks can't run She's
International alone. She hires students
from Roanoke College to help run the
shop and also hires someone to display
and place her merchandise. " If I had to
put the stuff out, it would look like
Sanford and Son in here! " she
jokes.
But despite her world travels,
Speaks chooses to call
Salem home. " I really like it
here, and I'm used to the South
now, " she laughs.
RAISING A BABY IN A BED
AND BREAKFAST
Cindi Lou MacMackin has
called Salem home for 18 years
and has stayed here for many
of the same reasons Speaks
has. MacMackin owns and
operates the 8,000-squarefoot
1907 Inn At Burwell
Place on Route 11 south of
Salem's downtown. A native
of nearby Montgomery
County, she and her husband
Mark lived in the D.C.
area for many years before
returning as close to home
as they could get. " I had
been in hotels and restaurants, "
MacMackin explains,
" but when I became pregnant,
I decided I wanted to
get out of the city. "
Cindi Lou MacMackin (above right) owns and operates the
8,000-square-foot 1907 Inn At Burwell Place on Route 11
south of Salem's downtown.
Cooperative Living/October 2014
MacMackin says the majority of her
guests are business travelers who are
tired of hotel rooms. " Roanoke is the
financial and business center of southwest
Virginia, " she points out, and her
business guests like staying in a place
that feels more like home.
And home it is to the MacMackins,
who host about 20 weddings a year
here and also cater to couples looking
for a quiet and romantic retreat. " It was
tricky raising a young child in a bed
and breakfast, " MacMackin laughs. " I
had couples coming here to get away
from kids. There were many times I
had to take my daughter out to the car
to have her temper tantrums! " n
Cooperative Living October 2014

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