Today we talk about one of our newcomers that have joined us here on the Danforth. @d.abrilhandcrafts opened its doors on December 12th of last year. The lovely creative minds behind it are Chris and his wife, Emma Landa. They moved to Canada ten years ago and have made it their home. Chris was working for a construction company for the last 9 years, but his wife was missing the colours of Mexico so that gave them the inspiration of opening this store. They sell beautifully hand painted clay pottery which is traditional to Mexico, and known for their bright colours. These are called Talavera, and have a long history in their culture which traces back to Spain as far back as the 15th century. Hence the name Talavera - named for the Maiolica pottery brought over by settlers from that region in Spain.
They are currently working on also bringing in some of their traditional home cooking into the store, which will give their store a unique one-stop-shop of Mexican street food where you can also buy traditional dinner wear and other home decor to match it. You will be getting the full experience here!
Their love of the community stems back to when they first moved here. Their landlord was also an immigrant, from Greece. Chris says he helped them so much with getting their footings here as newcomers to Canada, and opened so many doors for them. He and his wife are so grateful for that and love the Greek community in this area.
Stop in to have a look around. It having recently been Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico, you’ll also see a lot of the traditional skeletons and ornate skulls which are so popular now. Definitely a place to find all sorts of treasures!