With the help of a GoFundMe campaign, Guadalupe Ramírez-Blevins is working to buy the building that has housed her Carytown shop, AlterNatives, since 1999. (Photo by Jay Paul)
When Guadalupe Ramírez-Blevins came to the U.S. in 1994 from Guatemala, she sold weavings from her native country at a booth on Cary Street, located almost in front of AlterNatives Boutique, the store she opened at 3320 W. Cary St. in 1999.
“It was some kind of attraction to this place,” she says. “It was just mystical.”
More than 25 years later, Ramírez-Blevins is planning to buy the building that houses her store, partly with donations raised through a GoFundMe campaign.
Ramírez-Blevins had wanted to buy the building for years but had always been told it was not for sale. Early this year, she received a call telling her that the owner had decided to put the building on the market for $400,000. “I was really happy but at the same time sad because we [didn't] know exactly if we can come with [up with the] money right away,” she says.
Store manager Tiffany Refazo suggested the store raise money through a GoFundMe campaign, and a $25,000 goal was announced via AlterNatives’ Facebook page on Jan. 12. The campaign has raised more than $16,000, and Ramírez-Blevins has started the buying process. “Richmond has embraced me and taken me as part of this community,” she says.
AlterNatives sells clothing, jewelry, accessories and home decor made by local and international artisans as part of a fair trade and direct market formed by the Highland Support Project, a nonprofit she founded to empower indigenous communities. The store was closed from April to May last year due to an outbreak of COVID-19. Because of the lost income, Ramírez-Blevins was worried she wouldn’t be approved by the bank to buy the building, but the donations have given them a fighting chance.
“I feel really appreciative,” she says. “I’m feeling all the love and support from the Richmond area and friends from different places that know us, and they know the vision behind the store.”
