From the photographs on the wall to the aluminum and birch shelving, Alexander Rhoads tapped local designers, contractors and artisans to fashion a business that thinks on a global scale.

Rhoads, an attorney for 15 years, opened AllSpice in October at 400 E. Locust St. in the East Village. As the name suggests, the store is all about spices – and herbs, chiles, peppers, olive oils and vinegars.

And to clear one question off the table, AllSpice is not part of a franchise. Rhoads investigated the possibility of a franchise deal during the two years he spent researching the business, but he opted to be an independent businessman working with local vendors and suppliers, even though many of his products come from overseas, such as Egyptian oregano and French chile peppers.

Rhoads, a self-professed “foodie,” thought a business offering the taste enhancers of food would be “stable and necessary.” His volume of customers has confirmed that hunch.

“I’m not crazy enough to open a restaurant,” he said, noting that the store offers “affordable luxuries.” Some of those luxuries have been sampled during travels to other countries. His wife, Jennifer, works for Principal Global Investors and often takes a to-do list on her business travels to other countries, maybe to check out an olive oil shop in Australia or a spice shop in England.

AllSpice orders its olive oils and vinegars in relatively small batches – 10 to 20 liters at a time – to make sure they are always fresh, and stores them in stainless steel containers called “fustis.” Customers can sample the products. In addition, AllSpice hosts tasting parties.

The oils are poured from the fustis into 350-milliliter bottles and stopped and sealed like a wine bottle.

“At the end of the tasting, after people know what to look for, we will give them a surprise sample of a commercial extra virgin olive oil,” Rhoads said. “They think it tastes like grease.”

Opening the shop as the economy emerges from the Great Recession was “absolutely the right thing to do,” he said.

“This is an interesting business, because these are affordable luxuries,” Rhoads said.