Keep La Paloma‘s spirit alive in new space!

At the heart of Molly and her daughter Amalia’s family lives the intersection of spirit and community. Creativity and collaboration have always been important to the beat of their sacred space in connection and can be felt in all things that they have touched.

Two and a half years ago, Molly and Amalia birthed a community gift shop, lovingly called La Paloma. Almost immediately, it became evident to them that they were helping to fill a disparate need on the Coast Salish Land (Tacoma) by curating a space that uplifted local artisans while simultaneously providing a safe space for residents to commune and connect. By featuring goods in a safe space, with vetted, trusted vendors, this eventually led to events and gatherings which focused on celebrating Indigenous, Latinx, and marginalized culture at large.

Part of this magic was the fact that their space was only 600 ft²! Re-imagining and implementing their innovative, cost-effective strategies for such a small space made way to birth a weekly Lazy Sunday event, which became a season’s staple, highlighting local makers and vintage vendors alike. Pop-up tattoo events were the first of their kind at La Paloma, as well as other events to support the pulse of the community’s needs.

Their following grew quickly, and just as they were passing their two-year marker, they received a call from their landlords, letting them know that they were ready to liquidate their real estate. This was a hard blow for this mother-daughter pair who were just beginning to make enough profit to start paying themselves a small salary.

This began their journey to find a space to relocate in the middle of the holiday season, which is when most retail shops count on a large percentage of their annual sales. The pair explained, “We save and save to have enough funds to pre-purchase enough inventory for the holiday season, and there’s just no way we can get through it without the help of our community.” And so here we are in a position where we truly need the community to invest in us after the two years we’ve had the privilege of providing our hard work to with the simple mission of creating a space filled with joy so that anyone who walks through our doors can have just a few minutes of peace and care.

They have viewed several dozen retail properties, taken multiple polls to find out where community members wanted the new space to be, and have begun the process of our relocation that will take place just days after Christmas.

As you can imagine, a new space means new needs such as signage, shelving, fixtures, lighting, paint, and so much more. “We are doing our best to take this one step at a time to prevent ourselves from panicking or stressing over things we cannot fully control. In a perfect world, we would’ve had several more years before making such a huge change after such a short time at our N. 21st St. location, where we have just begun to experience some predictability and rhythm,” Amalia explains. There are so many people that still walk through their doors telling the shop owners that they have heard of La Paloma but had not had the chance to stop in even though they live in the neighborhood.

“We understand that life is busy. That it’s complicated but it’s us little guys that truly care about community and uplifting the people that are right here in Tacoma, that continue to fight the good fight to not allow our city and neighborhoods to be overrun by large corporations, fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and spaces that solely rely on metrics and spending that does not plant seeds back in our community,” Molly and Amalia added.

“We ask that you consider contributing to the cost involved in our move that we simply have no way of preparing for in such a short time.”

The moment they found out what was coming, they began finding creative ways to put a bit of money aside, but many of the things in their current space will be of no use in our new location.

They will need at least one month to prepare the new space so that we can reopen and will be doing most of the physical labor themselves alongside family but admit they could definitely use some extra hands with the move, building shelves, painting, installing new signage, adding lighting, and replenishing inventory.

“We will be losing our salaries, all of our revenue, and will be taking a major loss on items in our current space such as the shelving, lighting, and all of the upgrades we had to implement just two years ago.”

Any help is appreciated and no gesture is too small. They recognize that this ask, especially during this season, is difficult for many reasons. “It is with sincere humility that we thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about our story and consider participating in this fundraiser. Our new space will be just as special once we get it up and running, and we can’t wait to welcome you all into it. We will be moving to the Sixth Avenue business district, which is just a few miles from our current location.” La Paloma looks forward to continuing to hold space and connection for the members of our community.

Thank you,

Molly & Amalia