SHOP 12
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Each last Friday of every month, Manuel Acevedo, a native of Zacatecas, Mexico, has been receiving his friends and chopper aficionados, members of the "Hot Guilty Inocentes" Bike Club, at his Shop 12 store located inside Pasaje Condominio for 55 years now.
Manuel came to Tijuana in 1960 with the hope of crossing over to the U.S. to make a living but the prosperous economy of that decade pushed him towards getting into the tourist trade of Avenida Revolución. With only 13 years, he started working as a "cleaner" at one of his uncle's store for 4 years until he learned to speak English enough to take over sales in the store. During that time and after applying the cross-stitching technique taught by his grandpa, he started creating his first leather vests, making models ranging from every size available in order to offer custom-fitted clothing articles.
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The first family storefront, which was the direct predecessor of his current store, was named "Caito Chá", which opened in 1970, sold purses, jewelry, velvet frames, plaster figures, among other things. Their leather-goods have been the best-sellers for 40 years now: purses, backpacks, vests, belts, hats, jackets and wallets made by Manuel himself in a workshop next door.
Clients always come back
"I charge them a reasonable price, for them as well as for me and I won't go lower than that, I give them a price and they can think about it and if they don't like it, it's their loss." This strategy has worked well with his clients so far, who for the most part have been U.S. citizens as well as some Europeans and Britons. Manuel believes he has formed friendships from his sales, like with the bikers who visit him, most of them regulars. "It's best to be honest with the people, with my clients. Sometimes they come back without plans to buy anything, only to say hi", he assured.
CESAR CURIOS
After finishing high school, Irma Gaeta started working as a "cleaner" at a store inside Pasaje El Sombrero after being recommended by someone else. "Back then, as a Mexican, you weren't allowed into these stores if you weren't going to purchase something."
She recalls being taught how to clean every article, from the leather-goods to the jewelry as well as keeping an eye on the store and help out the customers. After a year, she gained more responsibilities, she learned how to use a cash register and payment terminals, that's because back them (in the 80s), credit card use was a pretty common business practice in this border town. She worked there for around six or seven years and she believes that, just like many other stores, the one she worked at closed down after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Then, in 1991, she started working at her husband's store "César Curios", which opened its doors that same year, located in between Fifth and Sixth Streets, on Avenida Revolución. She claims that, with this business, she was able to pay off her house, car and even her first son's birth.
Since then and until recently, she sells leather-goods made by Tijuana craftsmen, as well as sandals from Michoacán, belts from Aguascalientes, blouses and textiles from Puebla; silver jewelry and "alpaca" and "chapa" from the states of Guerrero and Jalisco.
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Why did the stores close down?
Irma believes that there was a time when "poor management" was the main cause for storefront closures: "There was so much money they didn't know how to manage that", as well as employee theft. But also due to certain historic events like the Gulf War (1990 1991), she recalls hearing about the war on the radio, "there were no sales, we just came to clean up."
She said that after the 9/11 terror attacks, the pasajes (passages usually with 'curios' storefronts), started closing down, first the ones all the way in the back all the way to the ones on the entrance.
The banning of big events after the influenza crisis was another hard blow to the local tourism economy, however, the worst period was when the city suffered from cartel violence when the "express" kidnappings and murders happened which prompted the U.S. government to issue a "red alert" to whoever traveled south of the border.
"The pasajes and storefronts on Avenida Revolución closed down like never before."
That's when local tourism became priority, even if there wasn't much sales. "Mexicans always had this idea that this street just wasn't for them, because it was too expensive". Irma says that there was a "change in market strategy":
"We don't talk to Americans now, but Mexicans, even if they didn't purchase anything, so that they could see our high quality items." The business owner believes that it's thanks to them that they still have their business as well as a lot of documented immigrants, who she believes they purchase their products to remember their roots.
JORGE ESPINOSA
Since 1945, silver jewelry design has been Espinosa's family main business, their first store was opened that year by Arnulfo Espinosa, as well as a jeweler workshop that's located on the second floor of the store. Over the years, one of his children, Jorge Espinosa learned the trade and decided to open up his own shop in 1982 in Pasaje Ciros, where he's currently located.
In addition to jewelry, the Espinosa store has unique and different styles of popular Mexican art like sculptures made of wood, papier mâché, metal, glass, etc), paintings and engravings, as well as photographs.
"Ever since I was a kid, I used to love collecting art and because I was in the business, I always though it was interesting all of the stuff that my clients brought to me.", making reference to the objects found on his store, which range from silver toothbrushes to trophies.
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For Jorge, the namesake store is not a "curios shop" but a arts & crafts store, he thinks the craftsmen work behind every piece, as well as their technique, should be recognized. He believes the different concept is due to "craftsmanship appreciation", which rose in the 70s with the arrival of collectors to the region and with a boom in specialized books.
Thanks to his close friendship with artists Benjamín Serrano (Tijuana, 1938 1988) and his wife Daniella Gallois (France, 1936 Tijuana 2006), introduced paintings to his store. Currently, Antonio Barajas is his main collaborator, who over the past 8 years has painted at his stores.
MÉXICO CURIOS
It took Héctor Santillán seven years of work to purchase his México Curios store, which was paid in full with the sales generated at the store which he already managed since 1952 for the previous owner, Diego Hinojosa.
Hector used to work as a Mexican cowboy model at the Caliente racetrack when he was a kid, where he welcomed foreigners who visited the place. Back then, horse races and bullfighting events took place twice a day, every weekend at the Caliente racetrack and the Bullring by the Sea in Playas de Tijuana respectively, which used to be the main U.S. tourist attraction south of the border back in the day. That's where he managed to find another job at the "curios store" in Downtown Tijuana.
"Bullfighting and Avenida Revolución means a lot to Tijuana because it filled the city with tourism". During the 60s and 70s, storekeepers at Avenida Revolución awaited tourists after the main events ended. In addition to finding all types of arts & crafts, you could also find bullfighting articles, ranging from banderillas, the sombrero cordobés, the Spanish boots "tres Z", capes and even the matador tie which used to be fashionable on an international level.
"Tijuana is a sacred city, it's like a funnel, they come to California and they end up in Tijuana", said the storekeeper in relation with the huge amounts of soldiers and Navy members that arrived here with their families after World War II, in the early 50s. According to Santillán, 80% of U.S. tourism came mainly from California.
With positions on different associations and chambers, Santillán gained the Pasaje Gómez property rights around 1970, which storefronts had to close down after the 2000 economic crisis. After 9/11 and at the head of the Chamber of Commerce, Santillán recorded the closure of 70% of the 3,500 stores on Avenida Revolución, most of them in pasajes, which form part of Avenida Revolución's streets.
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He recalls that apart from tourists, artisans who distributed their art pieces among the storekeepers stopped coming as well, reason why in 2003 he traveled to different states in Mexico to bring arts & crafts and place them in different places in his store.
EMPORIUM
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The store started operations more than 50 years ago by selling imported art pieces since the only Mexican products they had was hand-made clothing. As a result of clients whom the past store owner formed relationships, particularly one client's suggestion, he started reaching out to multiple artists located in nine Mexican states from which he currently has their pieces featured in his store: Jalisco, Guerrero, Oaxaca, State of Mexico, Chihuahua, Puebla, as well as local production, among others.
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viviana.gomez@sandiegored.com
Translated by: edgar.martinez@sandiegored.com
