Tesoros Trading Company — a neighborhood treasure that has bought artisan crafts from all over the world for greater than three many years — is closing its South Congress store.
In contrast to many small retailers which have left South Congress Avenue due to skyrocketing hire, homeowners Jonathan Williams and Kisla Jimenez mentioned they’re merely able to “retire” the store and concentrate on various things.
“We’re so grateful for the chance to have the enterprise in Austin, and for the reception that now we have acquired,” Jimenez mentioned. “We actually hand-selected every part we bought, and we actually liked seeing the enjoyment and the creativity of native artisans. It has been gratifying to help that craftmanship and to encourage the manufacturing of handmade issues.”
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The shop’s final day at 1500 S. Congress Ave. might be June 26. Williams and Jimenez mentioned they may then consider wholesale and on-line gross sales, with occasional pop-up shops, together with a deliberate sales space on the Texas E-book Pageant in November.
The following tenant to maneuver into the house, which has been residence to native retailers for many years, might be Tecovas, the Austin-based maker of cowboy boots and western put on. Tecovas, which raised $56 million this yr to develop nationally, will shut its present retailer at 1333 S. Congress Ave. to make the transfer to the brand new website.
In the meantime, Tesoros will proceed to promote to retailers across the nation, with museum retailers being a major buyer, Jimenez mentioned.
“It wasn’t the hire; after 35 years, it was the appropriate time,” Jimenez mentioned. “In the long run, it is all good. However we will miss folks. We are going to miss them a lot.”
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Williams began the import enterprise from his storage, promoting crafts he introduced again from travels to Peru. In 1989, Tesoros opened in downtown Austin in a former print retailer at Second Road and Congress Avenue — a location now residence to the JW Marriott Austin resort.
The enterprise moved to its present residence 15 years in the past. The 4,000-square-foot retailer sells a wide range of folks artwork, jewellery, clothes, furnishings and textiles from greater than 30 international locations together with Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the US and Vietnam.
“It has been very gratifying to offer merchandise that enchantment to such a variety of individuals,” Jimenez mentioned. “For us, it is the range of merchandise but in addition the vary of worth factors. You could find one thing from 25 cents to 1000’s of {dollars}.”
Through the years, the store has constructed a loyal following from Austin, throughout Texas and all over the world, Jimenez mentioned.
“We’re clearly enterprise folks, and we’re very grateful to have made a dwelling out of this. What propels us is to introduce folks to totally different cultures and to encourage the continuation of the best way that folks artwork and handmade issues symbolize a tradition,” she mentioned. “We now have labored with generations of artisan households, and we look ahead to proceed doing so.”
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‘They are going to be deeply missed’
Longtime clients are mourning the Tesoros closure.
“They created a neighborhood that introduced collectively folks and artisans from everywhere in the world,” mentioned Sharon Smith, an Austin resident who has been visiting the shop for years. “There’s a sense of loss. There isn’t any different place like this, that related so many individuals. They might be deeply missed.”
Like most retailers, Tesoros took successful from the coronavirus pandemic. Jimenez mentioned it affected each aspect of the enterprise, together with staffing and importing merchandise.
“The pandemic hit all people, and we needed to lay off 11 folks, which was actually laborious to do,” Jimenez mentioned. “We had been very grateful that our core group of 5 or 6 folks got here again. We rent part-timers, school college students, inventive folks. After we advised them we had been going to do that, they understood. They’re effective with it and can go on to massive issues.”
She added, “The pandemic has confirmed that we have all reevaluated what we’re doing.”
