After 30 years in business, Picante Designs is closing its doors permanently at the end of July.
The store鈥檚 owner, Hazel Rugg, says it鈥檚 time to retire.
鈥淚 want to do some other things,鈥 Rugg said. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to miss my customers. I have mixed feelings, but, you know, I鈥檓 tired. I鈥檝e been doing retail standing on my feet for 50 years, and I think I鈥檝e done it enough. I want to travel and really I just want to sit down and not do anything and not have to go anywhere. Although, I think that鈥檚 a dream, but in any case, that鈥檚 my plan.鈥
The colorful midtown store combines everything you love about Mexico and 蜜柚直播 into one local shop, selling skull figures, jewelry, textiles, clothing, handbags, home furnishings, tableware, ceramic figures, folk art, handmade crafts and more.
Picante鈥檚 most popular product is oilcloth. Several brightly colored rolls of it sit in a crate at the front of the store.
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鈥淚t all comes from Mexico,鈥 Rugg said. 鈥淚 think other stores carry it, but I have a big collection ... It鈥檚 fun. It鈥檚 like 鈥業 dare you to put that on your table and not feel good about the day.鈥 ... Oilcloth pays our rent.鈥
Rugg hopes to sell all of her inventory before the doors close for good. Everything is marked down by at least 25 percent, except for the oilcloth and some sterling silver Mexican jewelry. Prices will probably go down as the closing date gets closer.
The plan is to close July 31, but she may stay open 10 to 15 days longer if she still has a lot of inventory and nobody is scheduled to move into the shop鈥檚 space.
Picante Designs has been a labor of love since it opened in its first location downtown next to Yike鈥檚 Toys 鈥 which was also owned by Rugg and several partners at the time 鈥 30 years ago.
Picante has spent the last 17 years in its current location at .
Since her days downtown, Rugg has seen generations of shoppers come through her store.
鈥淚 have had people come into my store when they were pregnant and now their kids are coming in with the grandkids,鈥 Rugg said. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 like generations of shoppers. It鈥檚 really amazing when I see a friend come in with her daughter and she鈥檚 this tall woman and she has children and you鈥檙e like, 鈥楬ow did this happen?鈥 鈥
SHARING BEAUTY
As a child, Rugg traveled a lot to Mexico, so she鈥檚 always been interested in the culture.
Plus, she was inspired by an old store she visited with her mom.
鈥淢y first job was in a store similar to this in a way, not clothing, but lots of crafts from all over the world,鈥 Rugg recalled. 鈥淚t was called Desert House and it was owned by John Tanner. ... My mom used to take me to his store as a kid, and I wanted to work there. And when I graduated from college with a degree in English literature, I went to work as a retail clerk.鈥
When Picante first opened, Rugg made the clothing she sold there out of fabric from Guatemala and then it 鈥渕orphed into a store,鈥 she said.
Her focus for clothing has always been natural fabrics, so she likes to sell handmade clothing 鈥 as in hand-stitched 鈥 and hand-embroidered things from Mexico, as well as handwoven pieces from Guatemala.
鈥淧art of why I started the store was really to share all the beauty that鈥檚 created in the world by hand. ... I think handmade things are really worth the extra money you pay,鈥 Rugg said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a certain energy in them. ... Things made by hand and one-of-a-kind things really have a special place in my heart, and I hope people in the future appreciate that. I guess part of the thing is, like with these blouses, is to honor the women who make them and the men who make them. This is how they make their living and they do a fantastic job ... I can鈥檛 imagine how they make them. It just seems like magic.鈥
Rugg can tell you a story related to every collection in her store. There are the handwoven textiles with hand-dyed threads that she saw women in Guatemala working on. There are the skull boxes made in Mexico, much like the one she bought the first time she went for All Souls鈥 Day. The box didn鈥檛 make it home in one piece, but she had a sugar skull from the trip in her fridge for years.
Sharing stories and personal interactions with shoppers is the one thing Rugg says she will miss the most.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what has made this store popular is you can talk to people. You get people who come in and want to look at everything because it鈥檚 bright colors and it鈥檚 fun and it makes them feel good. And they just want to chat, maybe,鈥 Rugg said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 a little bit like social work. But it鈥檚 reciprocal.鈥