BERLIN– West Coast transplants Ken Briggs and Cesar Raygada are bringing a taste of Peru to the Eastern Shore.
Their new shop, Inca Ruins on 12 Pitts Street in Berlin, opened during the last week of August.
“I’m from Peru originally,” said Raygada. “When I was in college everyone would say, ‘Oh, I like your ring, I like your necklace.’ I thought it might be a good business, so we started, years ago at weekend fairs on the West Coast.”
The pair sold Peruvian goods to “snowbirds” at a flea market in Yuma, Ariz. When Briggs’ parents fell ill, they made the move to Ocean Pines to be with family.
“We started learning about what to do at the small markets, so we had the idea and just made the next step,” Raygada said. “One day we were walking around Berlin and one of the ladies in the coffee place said there was a little place up for rent. We looked, and it was perfect.”
“To start,” Briggs interjected.
Inca Ruins gets the majority of its handmade clothing, jewelry and knickknacks directly from Peru.
“Everything here benefits someone,” Briggs said. “His mom and dad live in Lima and they’re the ones that actually go out to get what we’re looking for.”
“My grandmother is from the mountain area, so we also have the access to the markets and to the communities who do that,” Raygada said. “This is where everything comes direct from. We work with the ladies there, so everything is coming from communities and family businesses.”
The shop imports additional fair trade merchandise from Mexico, Tibet and India, although Briggs said that can be cost-prohibitive.
“The bulk of it is not from a company – it’s from the communities that actually make it,” he said. “You pay a premium when someone puts a fair trade label on something and you’re paying for that. So this is how we keep our prices low – we try to go direct and kind of bypass that market.”
Briggs said the town has been “awesome” in welcoming the new business.
“Everyone has been so nice,” Raygada added. “Other businesses have come in to say hello and to welcome us. It’s unbelievable.”
Things have gone so well that plans are already under way to open a second, larger store in Rehoboth.
“We’ve always wanted to, but probably next year we’ll be opening our main store in Rehoboth,” Briggs said. “It will be a larger store, but I think we’re going to keep this. It’s doing okay and they can hopefully feed off each other. And we’ll probably eventually go for a bigger space here – it depends how the summer goes.”
A larger space, suggested Briggs, would allow for a more diverse line of merchandise.
“We can get handcrafted furniture, all sorts of things that are just out of the ordinary,” he said. “The most unusual thing we have right now are alpaca rugs and some artwork by Peruvian artists. There’s just unlimited potential.”
Inca Ruins is open Thursday-Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information call 410-973-2158 or visit www.facebook.com/IncaRuinsStore.
Their new shop, Inca Ruins on 12 Pitts Street in Berlin, opened during the last week of August.
“I’m from Peru originally,” said Raygada. “When I was in college everyone would say, ‘Oh, I like your ring, I like your necklace.’ I thought it might be a good business, so we started, years ago at weekend fairs on the West Coast.”
The pair sold Peruvian goods to “snowbirds” at a flea market in Yuma, Ariz. When Briggs’ parents fell ill, they made the move to Ocean Pines to be with family.
“We started learning about what to do at the small markets, so we had the idea and just made the next step,” Raygada said. “One day we were walking around Berlin and one of the ladies in the coffee place said there was a little place up for rent. We looked, and it was perfect.”
“To start,” Briggs interjected.
Inca Ruins gets the majority of its handmade clothing, jewelry and knickknacks directly from Peru.
“Everything here benefits someone,” Briggs said. “His mom and dad live in Lima and they’re the ones that actually go out to get what we’re looking for.”
“My grandmother is from the mountain area, so we also have the access to the markets and to the communities who do that,” Raygada said. “This is where everything comes direct from. We work with the ladies there, so everything is coming from communities and family businesses.”
The shop imports additional fair trade merchandise from Mexico, Tibet and India, although Briggs said that can be cost-prohibitive.
“The bulk of it is not from a company – it’s from the communities that actually make it,” he said. “You pay a premium when someone puts a fair trade label on something and you’re paying for that. So this is how we keep our prices low – we try to go direct and kind of bypass that market.”
Briggs said the town has been “awesome” in welcoming the new business.
“Everyone has been so nice,” Raygada added. “Other businesses have come in to say hello and to welcome us. It’s unbelievable.”
Things have gone so well that plans are already under way to open a second, larger store in Rehoboth.
“We’ve always wanted to, but probably next year we’ll be opening our main store in Rehoboth,” Briggs said. “It will be a larger store, but I think we’re going to keep this. It’s doing okay and they can hopefully feed off each other. And we’ll probably eventually go for a bigger space here – it depends how the summer goes.”
A larger space, suggested Briggs, would allow for a more diverse line of merchandise.
“We can get handcrafted furniture, all sorts of things that are just out of the ordinary,” he said. “The most unusual thing we have right now are alpaca rugs and some artwork by Peruvian artists. There’s just unlimited potential.”
Inca Ruins is open Thursday-Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information call 410-973-2158 or visit www.facebook.com/IncaRuinsStore.