Up the stairway and down the long hallway, graffiti artists’ work adorns the walls from ceiling to floor. Vibes of slow-moving jazz music drift from the unassuming door at the end of the corridor. These images are enough to let anyone in on the not-so-well-kept secret that Higher Ground is not your ordinary head shop.Collin Castore and Abraham Alexander, Ohio State students and owners of Higher Ground, seem to have carved their own niche in the world of High Street businesses. Their shop specializes in selling hand-blown glass pipes, clothing, jewelry and a variety of hemp products. The shop might sound typical in the campus area, but is as uncommon as the owners themselves.Castore was a traveler, often visiting other cities, before opening Higher Ground in 1997. He worked primarily at fast-food restaurants, and sold T-shirts and glass pipes from a push-cart on High Street. He was, “only trying to earn enough money to get to where he wanted to go next.”While working at Gumby’s delivering pizzas, he met Alexander and the two became friends. Alexander, who also sold Guatemalan imports from a push-cart part-time, found he and Castore had enough in common to combine their resources and set up shop. With $3,500 and two push-carts worth of inventory, the two signed a lease and Higher Ground was launched.Higher Ground is located at 1714 N. High St. above the Newport Music Hall, but because of its success, the shop will be moving in March to a larger location at 1948 N. High St.Castore and Alexander believe the move is necessary because the shop needs room to expand and the landlord situation in their current location is uncertain.Castore and Alexander are both OSU students. Alexander, 23, will be graduating in spring with a degree in international studies. Castore, 21, will be a sophomore.With the success of Higher Ground, Castore, an on-again/off-again student, has decided completing his degree is the next step.”I’d like to keep the business going through school and maybe a little after,” he said. “The goal is to make school last and retire after I graduate.” Castore tries to bring aspects of his laid-back personality into the shop. The employees are all friends of the owners, and everyone who walks in is greeted with a smile. There is even a couch behind the counter that Castore believes gives his shop a relaxing feel to customers.”Having a couch behind the counter is something you don’t see too often. It’s cool,” he said.Owning his own business has proven to be fun but also a learning experience for Castore. “The reason the shop has done so well is because it has grown and changed with Abe and I,” the Columbus native said.”We reinvest all of our income in order to expand the store’s variety of merchandise,” Castore said. “It’s not fun if it’s not always changing.” Alexander and Castore seem to have formed an opposite-personality partnership that has worked.”I’m not a very organized person, but Abe is. I tend to want to spend money while he saves. That’s what makes us such good partners,” Castore said. Change is a vital part of Castore’s life. Although opening Higher Ground has planted some roots for him in Columbus, traveling is still a big part of owning a pipe and clothing store. Both Alexander and Castore are usually on the road, going to music festivals like the Further Festival or Phish shows, and frequenting trade tapes of shows for new and interesting merchandise for the shop.Castore and Alexander have made a hobby of blowing their own glass pipes that are sold in the shop. They also sell their own hand-blown pipes to other Midwest retailers at trade shows. In addition to pipes, the shop features clothing made by their friends, as well as brand-name clothing they pick out themselves. However, Castore said selling pipes makes up 70 percent of the shop’s business. He plans to change this once the new store opens. Castore will serve coffee, sell cigarettes, and carry more of a selection of clothing in the new shop.”I’d like to own a store where all kinds of people came and shop,” he said. “Eventually, I want to sell 50 percent pipes and 50 percent clothing and other merchandise.”An environmental and hemp awareness section will be another addition to the new shop. Castore, president of Hemp for a Better Ohio, supports the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and its by-product, hemp, for industrial purposes. Educating the public on the positive uses of marijuana and hemp brings endless enjoyment, Castrore said.These students and business owners have plans to change the way people view head shops.”The goal has been to present the glass pipes we make in a gallery atmosphere, in order to render some respect for the art of glass-blowing. No nudie magazines or scales sold in our shop,” Castore said.The neighboring pipe and speciality shops have no intentions of competing with Higher Ground. In fact, Castore said the shops keep it friendly and even send business each other’s way.Castore still views his successful business venture as a school-job.”I’m not sure what will happen when I graduate, but this beats delivering pizzas,” he said.