Frances collection inside Mita Artisan Shoppe, this collection is named after Francisca Valle, mother of business owner Anabel Magallanes. Francisca designs, embroiders each dress and sews it together.

The afternoon of Friday, May 1, after clocking out of work, Anabel Magallanes is walking to her car, finally unlocking it and removing her mask, ready to sit and begin her commute home, when she gets a phone call.

“You’re being laid off,” are the words she heard. Her world paused and she wondered what to do about losing her entire career she had worked so hard for. She’d spent endless hours praying in the cathedral with her grandmother Mita to pass her physical therapist exam. She was finally well set into the career she and her family had sacrificed so much for.

It had been years since her grandmother Mita passed away, but she could still remember the effort her grandmother made to pray for her daily just so she could pass her exam and have her career. It was time to decide to put it all behind her and choose a new path.

Magallanes’ career as a physical therapist had all become a victim of the vicious pandemic. That’s when she decided she was going to shift gears, but dedicate it all to her grandmother, Mita.

“I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me. A part of me felt like I was betraying what I worked so hard for, but the meaning to this has a lot more. The meaning is beautiful too, because it’s because of my grandmother.”

Mita Artisan Shoppe is located in the Bergfeld Center in Tyler and brings Mexican culture to the Tyler area.

Growing up, Magallanes’ grandmother loved to embroider. She’d spend hours looking out the window of her home, embroidering.

She’d give her embroidered napkins out as gifts. Today, her family has their grandmothers’ gifted embroiders framed.

“I remembered her love for Mexico. She taught me about prayer, she would always pray her rosary everyday, so growing up, seeing that motivated me. Doing this as my business, I was able to provide for artisans, help them provide for their families, help them build a job,” Magallanes said.

It’s a custom that retail stores order items in wholesale to then sell at their businesses, but Magallanes has a unique business model.

She travels to Mexico annually to meet with creative artisans that stitch and embroider everything by hand. Magallanes has met artisans from many parts of Mexico, from Michoacan, to Puebla, to many different states in the country, she finds hidden and indigenous families to support by purchasing products directly from them.

“My husband is my biggest supporter along with my mom. (When visiting Mexico) we have a little map of where we want to go, what kind of artesanias we are looking for, and we go and meet these artisans that we want to collaborate with,” she said.

The biggest artisan she began to collaborate with was artisans from Chappas, a state in southern Mexico.

“What defines them is their large, embroidered flowers and the pom poms. We also have Oaxaca, which is fine embroidery with silk thread. Our other state is Puebla, Guerrero and closer to Mexico City is the serapes. We have beaded earrings, blouses. Guanajuato, we have our hats, our huaraches, the leather sandals,” Magallanes said.

Beginnings

Magallanes began her small side business in September 2018 with two tables selling some of the same products she has now, in Canton. In January 2019, she made it official and began to bring in more merchandise and expand her business.

She began selling her products on two tables at the Canton Trade Days. As time passed, she kept working hard for her goal of having a position in one of the covered indoor shopping areas called The Arbors. With persistence and dedication, she reached her opening in last tylerthe arbors, but this year Magallanes will be expanding her business into three booths.

“The whole time, I juggled both my side job and my full-time job, which was being a physical therapist assistant. On May 1, I was laid off of my job because of COVID, so I had to dedicate myself to my side job. I learned to do what I was doing, as a side job, to do it as a full-time job.”

When it came time to find a location in town, Magallanes prayed that something would open up for her that would not only be cost-effective, but in a great location.

“I looked at it and I thought, wow, that’s wonderful, it’s a really nice area but it would be perfect,” she said.

“I called the number on the window and I spoke to Brad Bergfeld… within a week, I knew I was going to have this opportunity. I’m really thankful they gave me this opportunity, because when I spoke to him, they had to gather and decide whether I would be a good fit for this area, being a nice shopping center, and they called me and they said yes. I’m very thankful to them because without them, I wouldn’t have this opportunity.”

Magallanes believes she was a perfect fit because she offered something different.

“Mr. Bergfeld, I met Brad’s father, he told me that they loved what I had to offer, something different, and they wanted to see more variety here at the shopping center, and so they were really excited to see something like this here,” she said.

Mita Artisan Shoppe also sells online on Etsy, as well as Instagram and Facebook. Some items are online exclusively, for example Virgin Mary dresses.

“Sometimes what we offer are the traditional clothing, but sometimes customers ask what’s trending.

Different clients want different things, some don’t like short sleeves or some want something that covers the arms more, so we try to bring something for everyone that they like, so they can keep coming back,” Magallanes said.

Magallanes’ mother also learned how to embroider from her mother Mita, Magallanes’ grandmother. Today, Magallanes has an entire collection named after her mother, Francisca Valle. The Frances collection is made up of dresses for babies and toddlers. Francisca designs, embroiders each dress and sews it together.

“She takes usually a day to make a dress. The fabric is from Mexico, so she cuts the fabric, then sews it, she then draws and embroiders each pattern,” Magallanes said. “Then, final touches, when she irons them, puts them out here. She’s the one that designs them and makes each style unique and beautiful.”

Although Valle suffers from hereditary tremors that cause her drawings to be squiggly, Valle still manages to sew on each design perfectly. The collection is available in store and online.

Success through COVID-19

Magallanes’ business took off when she began selling embroidered masks.

“The story behind how I got here was because of the masks,” she said. “I had a friend, she messaged me one day and said, ‘Hey this is great, what if you sell these? These masks are really cool,’ it had embroidered flowers, and I was like, ‘Well yes but hopefully covid will be gone before we know it, we won’t need masks,’ I was hoping.”

Artisans also told Magallanes they really weren’t selling clothes and that they were making more masks.

“Then, one of our artisans that made my puebla dresses, they were like, ‘Anabel, what do you think about masks? Because right now we’re not selling any clothing, everyone’s making masks so that they’re able to provide for their families,” she said.

First, she ordered 200 masks because she didn’t know if they would sell.

“I sold out in a day and a half.”

Magallanes said that God has a plan for everyone, and that although during the pandemic, people may not see the light, but that everything always works out.

“I never knew my life would change so much in this time frame. All I say all the time when you ask me, ‘How long or where do you plan to get with this,’ I honestly can tell you, I just pray and I always tell God just lead the way. I always put God first,” she said.

The patients Magallanes left behind in her career are still missed by her, and although she’s had plans to go back and visit them, COVID-19 safety restrictions have prevented that.

In the nursing home where she worked, some patients’ families wouldn’t go visit them, so that still weighs heavy on her mind while at work.

“We would work with them everyday,” she said. “You build a relationship with them. When I don’t see them anymore, it’s hard.”

Mita Artisan Shoppe is located at 119 E. 8th St. in Tyler. Hours of business are Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m to 4 p.m.