Hi.

Welcome t another episode of Neighborhood We are here on historic King Street for day two.

Toda we are going to focus on the fur We're going to start with a smal to Paris, France.

Come on, let's go in.

Hey, Rafael, when you Welcome to tradition.

The frame.

Thank you.

I am honored to be here today.

This is amazing.

I always wanted to come back and get the full grand tour.

Come to the right place.

this is.

So where does this come from?

Who chose this?

That we choose that with my wife They're coming from the south of Typically what we call the frame Jacob.

Okay.

Is it?

It is a collection.

The very colorful.

Yeah, a littl Also some cheerful color me most very colorful.

You can see the different color is very popular in Europe and in I see a lot of different chandel Yeah.

That i is that something that you speci Like we.

Yeah, we specialize in We do a little triangl if you come here every week we c We do a look lighting.

We have traditional and a little bit more modern.

Okay.

The same thing, the different, d styles.

Sorry, guys.

We have, we can costume any size So what was it that you decided to leave France to come here?

Alexandria, Virginia.

King Street to, start your busin Okay.

We we decided to come.

It was mostly my wife.

It was, she want to try us.

I did my experience a while ago.

I did my school in Chicago.

And I went back to France.

And my wife she really want to to try us, to And we decide to can be the obje to open a store to replicate what we've been doi Paris with for our family, because we've been working for o in Paris for many.

And we we choose Alex only, because he was very charming.

We feel much more warm, is cozy, and we find our new home.

Let me show you a list.

Okay.

I'm going to surprise you.

Kind of wanted to take a nap.

This is made in frien by a very famous kind of Patrick Okay.

Your generation and family Okay.

What they do Rosewood is not mai French, is the last one.

Do the rosewood.

Okay?

And that is the way.

The way you can see that is doing lay in each piece his side.

And all these pieces are made by The outside.

Okay.

This was amazing.

Really?

Yeah.

Let me show you more upstairs.

Oh, there's an upstairs.

He's up Oh.

That's lovely.

Follow me.

Oh, yes.

This is a the real So we were discussin before that you don't have a mid Is there a reason why you don' have anybody in the middle of kn We don't.

We don't have anybody in the mi because he's going to ask the pr in Africa client as we try to go on the indirect.

Like our import from Europe, we import directly ourself.

We have our own container coming to us directly from France t we actually we have one into wha They're coming next month.

Yeah.

So you did say that you and your fly over to.

We France.

And to Italy and.

To France, mostly France, Italy, mostly France, where we find no Most of our, pieces pieces of furniture in particula Can you tell me about this piece This is this piece.

It's almos just like me when I was in high Yeah.

That is.

You can see the.

Actually, this one is, American is this cherrywood?

That is cherry and walnut, old cherry and walnut is made in Fra You know, in Alsace.

In Strasbourg.

I don't know if you're familiar region where we costume love pie Okay.

We'll do a hand in France is made in that region.

Yeah.

one.

So, Rafael, what do you want your clients to leave with?

I know when I came, I lef with a feeling of elegance and w What did you want?

Your clients and people who vis the store to feel when they leav I think both the elegance and al because we target, you know, different style Well, thank you, Rafael, for thi tour and I hope to be back and see you soon, my friend.

Thank you very much to you.

Merci beaucoup.

We're going to our next stop on our tour, and it's right next door.

Read more.

Come on, let's go in.

Hello, my friend Kathy.

Kathy with the K, I say.

This reminds me of a general sto like when I was growing up, but it's so much more.

And you've been here for a littl I've been here for 16 years.

Wow.

What is your role here?

I'm the buyer.

Red Barn.

Yes.

Okay, so you're going to be the perfect person to tell you.

I hope so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We sort of have different sectio throughout the store.

We like to.

We like to think that we have so something for everyone to buy.

Okay.

Whether you love nautical, the b I grew up in the beach.

There you go.

You know, nautical, beachy.

I personally one of my favorite favorites.

We have a woodland section.

Okay We have a local sectio where people can come in and buy from the Washington, D that represent Washington, D.C.

or Virginia or Alexandria.

It smells so good in here.

Is it because of the candle sect Yes, it is our collection of Sidney Hale candles, which is one of the best selling lines in the store.

It's a lovely line.

It's a husband and wife tea and we consider it to be a local Started in Arlington then moved out to Loudoun Count and now has settled in Richmond.

But these candles fly off the sh They're just a wonderful company They give 10% percent of their p to dog rescue.

Oh, wow.

So we just love them.

It's just a fabulous line.

Well, I am ready for the tou because it goes all the way back We go way.

Back.

This is one of our newer card li People, customers come in and st for half an hour and just laugh hysterically at these cards.

They come to us from England.

It's a lovely company.

It just this.

This is the boss's favorite.

I see people my age climbing Eve I'm just happy to get my legs t my underwear without losing my b Right.

Are you getting more than a came I'm there.

I don't know.

How much I'm there.

I'm there.

this is a chase, right?

It is.

It is this is, we do carry, an upholstery line.

Cisco home.

Okay.

Out of LA, everything is bench made.

Meaning they make it when we ord Nothing is manufactured.

You know, mass manufacture in stock.

Okay, in a warehouse.

It's just a beautiful, lovely li these are just.

They're beautiful.

Is it?

Yeah.

It's sniffing iron where?

They're out of Charleston, South Carolina, like.

Joe.

We we do quite well with it.

I believe, if I'm not mistaken, it's actually made from, reclaim So it's they're trying to recycl They're trying to do good things I have several pieces of it.

I gifted a lot to my boys as they've gotten older.

It's just a really great line.

Is there a special way that you.

Well, you never want to wash cas iron with soap.

We do have some special.

We have cast iron oil.

We have cast iron.

So you can get like a scrape to scrape the, you know, off the Okay.

But you do want to care for it.

But it's really durable.

There's not heavy.

Wow.

There's so many different t here, Kathy.

How do you choose what is in the How do you.

Well, it's a collaboration betw the owner of the store, Amy Ruth Okay.

We're always looking for new things t because we don't want to get sta We don't want our customers to and see the same things every, e So we're always looking for new You know, sometimes a line sell in the beginning, and then it's Out.

We'll replace it with somet But it's a collaboratio between the owner of the store.

Oh, I love it.

Yeah.

like, mother's.

Okay.

She' She's out of Richmond, Virginia.

It's this lovely woman named Me who apparently, grew up drinking It's a drinking vinegar.

Okay, so she grew up drinking vi with her grandmother, and then, you know, decide this is what she wanted to try d her husband does all the artwor on the bottles, and then she cre the shrubs.

This is one of my favorite thing I don't know if you'll be able t It's glitter or mimosa.

It's mimosa.

Makes berry glitter And at Christmas we're going to have a candy cane Sirup.

That's a glitter candy cane, which is so much fun.

what I'm loving about our tour t is that we're talking about a sense of c a sense of responsibility, and not just selling stuff.

How do you.

Is that part of why you are here Oh, absolutely.

I mean, Alexandri Old Town is an amazing community The the, the residents all supp small businesses, which is so wo Honestly, since I started working in a small busi I don't ever shop in the mall an I would much rather sho at the small businesses here in and all town.

Okay, support the small business I wish I had the statistics.

I'm not completely prepared for but when you shop locally, there is a large percentage of goes right back into the communi Other occasions that people can, you know come to say, hey, I'm having a p I want to come here, you know give me some examples of your cl Honestly?

anybody and everybody we have r come in that are looking for a g basket to give to a client that is just closed on a home.

We have grandmothers that come i looking for infant gifts.

We have small children come in and teenagers come in looking for our jelly ca We have dads come in shopping for mothers.

We have moms come in shopping fo Again, ou goal is to have something for ev So you can come into this one s and find a gift for anybody on y You know what?

I just remembered I didn't ask, or do you have a pet section?

My dog Moses will not let me in It was like, hey, you forgot abo Oh, we sure do.

Do you know how much people in O Alexandria love their pets?

Especially their dogs.

Oh, I mean, come right around ov Oh my God.

We've got a pet secti right over here.

Oh, I. Hope.

It's not.

It's not heavy on.

Items for pets.

We do have a few dog toys, but on gifts for people who love the Oh my God.

Like, so I like puzzles.

Yeah I can replace my dog mug.

There Cause I got a dog mug.

You got a dog?

I got a dwarf one from Jersey.

Y Yeah.

Some cat jokes.

Cat note cards.

Same thing over here.

Dog.

Note cards.

Dog food.

Dog.

Doggie biscuits.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh my.

Goodness.

Yeah.

Wait, this is a. We would never forget our furry Well.

Thank you.

This has been a Thank you for showing me around and chatting.

This has been a wonderful experi And I got to bring Moses back.

Well please do.

We loved having you in the stor and we hope you come back and sh Barn Mercantile.

Thank you.

I think it's just gonna, you know, you just wanna.

Thank you for joining u on this episode of Neighborhood We were on King Street, historic Alexandria, Virginia.

We had a wonderful time going to tradition de France, taking a small little trip through Paris, France.

And then we came right next door barn, where it made me feel like I was in an old general store.

As we leave Red barn, I can't he but take in the beauty of Old Al just steps away.

King Street stretches out with sidewalks, charming storefronts, and the energy of neighborhoo that has stood the test of time.

this season on neighborhoo Favorites, we've been on quite a We started with bold flavors th the spirit of the Caribbean at S where every dish is rooted in tr and love.

We explored creativity and craft at places like evolution Home and Pippin Tour Company, where every piece, every toy tel of passion and imagination.

We rolled up our sleeves at our workshop, discovering the j of making something with our own Each stop reminded us that neig aren't just places, they're peop And every business we visit carr the heartbeat of its community.

I want to go back to Samanth Abrams, owner of Happy Dealers.

Let's hear more about her legacy and our special bonus feature here with Samantha Abrams, the owner of, Sabadell.

Let me tell you, let me just ask And we had been talking, previou what inspired you to open this wonderful, warm res It seems like a home.

We're, like, sitting in these ch This is amazing.

What inspired you to do it?

And to do it in Ward eight?

It's, you know, it's a cultural From coming from Guyana in 1993, my parents given up our home in busines just to make sure that we had op And we knew coming back to Nort America was a place where we can And dreaming this up lik I wanted my parents to have a bu So I wrote a business plan in 19 for a college assignment.

And, my dad always told me that words are powerful and whatever I speak and see, I can bring it into existence.

I'm a practitioner of manifestat and I love what I eat.

I knew Marion Barry.

I knew Miss Cora, and when this opportunity was pr the universe just collided.

And here we are.

And what about the menu of bringing Caribbean food to us and all of that, that meaning of that.

Wow.

For you.

My country is just so rich.

It's a cultural food gastronomy and I wanted to show it off.

We've had our first locatio in Fort Washington for almost 19 and I wanted a space where we ca and also introduce peopl to Guyanese and Caribbean flavor But people think Caribbean anyth Whereas Caribbean and Spice need layers, breadth and depth of foo coming from our African Indian but also bringing in the Portugu when they were, on the land as colonizers.

Right.

But the remnants of that, is in food as well.

So di you bring you also have a backgr and tell us a little bi about your background, like in f corporate world and all of those that, that enhanced.

Yeah, yeah.

But did it enhance on your journ about what you were looking for, picking all of these wonder for a restaurant?

It's a collection, right.

And we have to really just lean when we are purpose driven and our mindset i the purpose is bigger than the m And holding on to that.

So I've traversed life and just been so incredibly ble to sit in roles that were oftent seats of situational privileg with immense power, access and i And how do I do that?

Not just, you know, for me, how do I serve as a portal?

And so collecting all of these e and learnings and also some of it was traumatizing I'm a black woman.

Oftentime I was younger in spaces of leade peopl not sure who I am, what to make I'm Caribbean.

So I just wanted to bring a spa where not just for me, but every who works here can land and fee and they can earn beyond a livin They can earn a thriving wage.

What was and I wanted to expand as an entrepreneur.

It's a woman, a black woman.

What were the challenges or what are the challenges?

Because, you know, we see the fi product, we see the good food.

We see that you look well.

What are the challenges that you that one would find if they want to open a restauran or go into you know, entreprene what are those challenges that y Well, the first thing I tel people is always get on yourself If you can conceive of an idea you can birth it, but it's not d It's not easy.

It's difficult.

Access to funding is always, a significant challenge for us as black women.

So when my parents and I started Fort Washington, we took every penny that we coul out of for one key, out of our h savings and pull together because nobody would lend us even though we had good credit h collatera nobody would lend us, for this l We were so lucky to have Mayor as a partner, and her team at th and so many other people wrapping their arms around me because they saw not just an ent but they saw the executive and the personalit that comes with helping to build but a brand that's going to be in service to the community.

But yeah, I g the whole projec I worked with my architect to de I picked out every piece of fur in here, and then I had an incre women and others who came into t and worked alongside me.

And they're like we're going to do this together.

So they're believing in the visi They see it, they've bought in and here we are.

Who we are.

Not easy.

Every day you have challenges ri This is a people space.

So I get to meet people where t oftentimes challenges with, you finding the right kind of talen because the bar is very, very hi This isn't, the only upscale Caribbean, fusion restaurant in And it's not to discredit anybod in what they're doing.

It's a compliment.

Right.

So I've worked hard alongside my my parents, my children and everybody on staff to bring to bear, to bring this to light.

And we just want to be a spac where people can feel luxury and yeah, enjoy the.

Food as and as we're going to do Thank you for taking the time f to just sit here in these lovely And I'm actually probably going to take home with me if you know, I'm back up the truck.

But, I am looking forwar to some wonderful food, much suc And you're going to tell u what we're going to be served an And we look forward to sharing a meal with you.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.