goods from Guatemala

Last month when I decided to share the store, I figured it was as good a time as any to finally get out of dodge. I hadn't had a vacation in a while, or even left LA. I looked into volunteering in different countries, because I wanted to experience something new that wouldn't cost a bundle, and hey, maybe I could help out at the same time.
I started out looking to stay on an organic farm through the website http://www.wwoof.org/ , but somehow through web bouncing I came across http://www.arcasguatemala.com/ , which is an animal rescue center in Guatemala. I loved the idea of working with spider monkeys and parrots, so I planned my trip around going there. I only had two weeks, and there's SO much to see down there. I spent four days at ARCAS, which is in the jungle a short boat ride from the town of Flores. Flores is an amazing place - a tiny island in a lake. I then went to the ruins of Tikal, and on to Belize to Caye Caulker where I went snorkeling on a boat tour and saw the most beautiful fish, along with nurse sharks and huge manna rays. Then stopped in San Ignacio, Belize to see more Mayan ruins and an iguana farm.
I spent several days in Antigua (which I hear just made #1 tourist destination in some big list this year), where I finally started doing some buying for the store. I went to the town of Chichicastenango, which has the biggest market in Guatemala twice a week. I could go on quite a bit here, but I'll just say it was amazing.
People often ask me "Do you get to travel all over the world to buy all these cool things you sell?" to which I say "I wish!!". I just travel to the LA convention center for gift shows and spend a crazy amount of time searching for goods on the internet. So this was my first experiment importing. I'm completely unskilled the the art of bargaining, so that was a big hurdle. Plus my Spanish is pretty bad. But the more I did it, the easier it got, and I really had fun. I've been told that the actual price is 1/3 or 1/2 of what vendors first tell you, but I don't know if there's any truth to that. And my goal was not to whittle them down to the lowest price possible, but to walk away with everyone happy. Surprisingly sometimes the starting price was about what I would charge in LA, and that's in a store where the overhead is much higher than a blanket on the street!
In the end I ended up paying about what I would to a pro importer at a trade show, but by cutting out the middle man I paid more the artists making the goods. So what did I get? A little of everything that caught my eye! I got some beautiful bags and pillow cases made from old retired huipiles, the classic Mayan blouse. The elaborate design and patterns of a traditional woman's huipil may convey the wearer's village, marital status, and personal beliefs. I also bought some beautiful woven textiles - wall panels, table runners, scarves, etc. Some great baby clothes (which are going fast - I wish I bought more!) and some baby slings. The Mayan women just use a big swath of fabric and tie it in a knot over their shoulder, but I got some that cheat with a padded shoulder strap and buckle. Some other bags I bought are made from wool in the sheep's natural color variations - creams, browns, warm blacks. I saw men using these bags in Guatemala, so it's a nice unisex bag big enough to hold most laptops. Here's a link to them on the website: http://www.shopregeneration.com/access.html

In Belize I bought a collection of carved slate pendants from an artist who set up a card table at night on the street. They're symbols from the Mayan calendar, a variation on astrological signs.
I've rambled on enough! If you want to see more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellywitmer/

Big changes at Regeneration

Okay, so I WAS going to go out of business. Sales were down so much that it didn't seem worth staying open. When I sent out an announcement before the holidays of a going out of business sale, so many loyal customers came in and told me that I just COULDN'T leave. They also bought a bunch of stuff, which gave me new hope. So I started looking for someone to share the store space with me, to help out covering the bills. I was in another store and a 50's pink ceramic rooster reminded me of my old friend Jeff, who used to have a store next to mine in Silverlake (his was The Snivling Sibling, mine was Pull my Daisy, which I sold about 7 years back). And so I called to see if he would be interested. When I told him who it was, he said "Oh God, did someone die??" Long story short, a few days later he agreed to rent 1/3 of the store and sell antiques and furniture.
So now the store is getting a big facelift and it's looking good! Last week I meet a man from Holland and we were discussing the economy, and it's effects on both of our countries. He brought up an interesting point, that downturns like this can be useful as it forces us to rethink how we do things and come up with new solutions.
So cheers to the crappy economy!