En Mi Barrio con Kulture
Interviewee: Co-owner, David Garcia.
"En Mi Barrio": storytelling through a multicultural and intersectional lens. Highlighting the works of artists, business owners, and community leaders of their own respective fields who uplift underrepresented groups and share their culture through their works. In their own words: “Kulture... with a backward "K"! In business since July 2015. You have to visit our eclectic store to understand how diverse and full of culture our inventory is. Our small local business thrives on making our customers smile and bringing ethnic diversity to midtown Sacramento.” Kulture is owned and operated by David Garcia and Cuahutemoc Vargas with a strong familia support system and dedicated business team to keep it all running smoothly. Below is the first installment of the En Mi Barrio series ~ enjoy! <3
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Sophia: Let’s start with your origins and family history.
David: So my dad was born in Coalcoman, Michoacan and when he was young they moved to Jalisco were my mom is from. They grew up the town of Cihuatlan. That’s where my oldest brother was born and then we moved to the US. We travel there a lot and many other cities. My business partner was born in Michoacan and would go back and forth from the US when he was young. We gather a our goods from these areas but also from a variety of towns and cities in Mexico.
Sophia: How did Kulture gain its roots?
David: So Kulture started with our clothing brand, Keeping It Paisa, and with Kulture but on a smaller scale at first. When my partner and I started, I was working at the Capitol for the Senate and he was working at Sherwin Williams in the painting industry. He actually started the clothing brand, but had just one design and a couple of hats in the beginning. I’ve come from a sales background with my past jobs and with my degree, so he asked me if I could join and help boost sales and I said yeah. I loved the name right off the bat, so I jumped on board and within three months after I joined we did a golf tournament to raise money to donate to the migrant students at Sac State in the CAMP program, College Assistant Migrant Program. I was in that program, my business partner too, we were both apart of it. We ended up donating money to a local school that year to buy them TV’s and the second year we made more money were able then to give back to the students at Sac State. Every year it’s gotten bigger and bigger. This last year we actually sold out and had about 180 people there with all-you-can-eat taqueros and we were sponsored by Corona and Modelo. It’s a fun event and it sold out a month before the golf tournament. With that, we figured we’ve grown our name and reputation so we began looking for a shop. I found the little space on 24th street, which was originally Theresa’s Antiques. The owner wanted to sell the space under the condition that her antiques stay with it. In the end we decided to buy the business and began selling antiques alongside our clothes. We were surprised to see the antiques really sold well and that’s when folks started asking about imports. Do we ever get this or know where to get this and that from Mexico. We met a guy that brings Talavera that his family makes in Guanajuato, he started bringing us some, that started selling, and we kept growing and growing from there.
I don’t think we did Kulture in the proper way. Most people have a business plan and we did it kinda the opposite way. We found the place, signed, and made it work. Three years in and things are really starting to fall into place with this new location. I always wanted to start my own business but never knew what. Kulture was never planned, but it’s been a great journey. The feedback from our customers is honestly amazing and keeps us pushing too. They love the store and what we’re about.
Sophia: So how long has Kulture been in Sacramento?
David: This past July was three years, July 6th, but we moved here to our new location in November. Honestly, since we moved here it’s really grown now that we have more of an outlet to do more with our space. We’re working together with the owners of Midtown Cantina Alley and they have a vision for the place too. Our new signs just went up recently too, which say, “Placita MX”, with one on both entrance. This whole location will be called just that, with shops inside La Placita. We’re one of the main anchor tenants and slowly they’re gonna bring in a few more. We also own La Tiendita Oxo inside the court, a play off the name of the Oxxo’s in Mexico. Sodas, chips, candies, and some other goods from Mexico.
Sophia: What other plans do you have for the court?
David: So this court area, we’re hoping to get wifi set up in here so people can come hang out, do work, maybe grab a snack or soda at the shops. Eventually the owners may want to open a small coffee or food shop, still an idea in the works. There’s even potential for private dance or yoga classes here, but definitely as many events as we can to bring people in to get to know what we’re about.
Sophia: What challenges have you faced as a Latino business owner in Sacramento?
David: Honestly I feel we never faced pushback from the people. The community is really embracing of the Mexican cultures, foods, and traditions. Going back to the beginning when we sold antiques. Those same people who bought those from us were the same people who would ask about the imports which led us to begin thinking about really selling these imports.
Sophia: How do you feel that Kulture might help the Sacramento community better understand Mexican traditions? Was it a part of the mission?
David: Honestly at first, I don’t think it really was. It was more so something we wanted to start. My business partner and I travel to Mexico multiple times a year, together and on our own time. More and more people began to ask if we could bring back this and that, so slowly we started bringing goods in and the more people would see, the more demand increased from there. I don’t know what percent, but there’s a big percent of our customers who have either visited Mexico or traveled to visit family, but many times they can’t bring anything back with flight restrictions or things break or it’s too expensive. They come into Kulture saying, “Oh I saw that in Cabo or Guadalajara, but I’ll buy it here because I can’t get over there”. I feel like, specifically in the Latino or Mexicano culture, it’s so rich. There’s so much to it that all people can feel welcomed by. Like even with the whole “Taco Tuesday” thing. Everyone uses it to sell, even places that don’t have anything to do with Mexican foods, but we’re very diverse with such rich history that a lot of people embrace it and want to be apart of it.
Sophia: Yes! There’s already such a huge market for mexican foods and fusions in California, but it’s definitely starting to show in Sacramento. Like Camellia and the Horchata Lattes, people really went crazy for those.
David: Exactly, or even like Temple’s Mexican Mochas because everyone knows their gonna sell. You see lots of Mexican food restaurants do very well these days too. People love Mexican food and the fact that we’re in California, with a denser population of Mexicans and Latinos of all kinds, definitely helps these businesses to continue to grow.
Sophia: We’re also a crazy growing demographic and our culture has become so prevalent in all areas.
David: Exactly and to me, I’m very proud to be Mexicano, and I see some people shy away from saying they’re Mexican or showing their traditions. To me I feel like, people here almost have to change now to fit parts of our culture as opposed to us to fit American culture like it’s traditionally been. It’s just a huge melting pot in this city. Like you said, the numbers are growing and they’re going to continue to keep growing. The way I see it, I’m gonna do mine and you’re gonna do yours. If you don’t like mine then you don’t have to be around it, but if you want to be involved and be apart of it, come join us, you’re always welcome. And a lot of people do! I think they embrace it.
