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Christmas in Palo Alto
Bringing India to California: How Marigold Row and Local Boutiques Transform Holiday Shopping into a Cultural Experience
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Santana Row San Jose California / Ritu Marwah
Christmas markets are ready for the shoppers. Friday after Thanksgiving is when revenue numbers in retailers’ account books are believed to turn from red to black.
Shoppers slurp up their gravies and mashed potatoes on Thursday and start working on their Christmas gift list. Black Friday is when Marigold Row in Palo Alto California’s Town and Country Village shopping center is hosting a mehndi afternoon.
“The line for the mehndi goes out through the door,” said Anita Mehta, the proprietor of Marigold Row which may be the only store in America to have India’s leading textile designers under one roof.
“Artisanal, craftsmanship and classic contemporary designs are our hallmark. We work with artisans based in remote villages as well as designer studios in big cities in India.”
Marigold Row / Ritu MarwahAfter 15 years as a wholesaler to America’s purveyors of high-end goods, Mehta has her finger on the pulse of shoppers of quality fabrics. “We supply, for instance, scarves by Neeru Kumar, to museum shops and small retailers all over the U.S.”
Everything in the store is natural fibers, she said, cotton, silk, or wool. The clientele is both Indian Americans and non-Indian Americans.
Said Mehta: “Second-generation Indian Americans, like my daughters, do not travel to India frequently. My children haven’t traveled to India in the last five years. Having access locally to top Indian designers is an immense advantage to anyone who wants to make a quick dash to pick up something they want to wear.”
There are Christmas events happening now for which clients need dresses, said a shopper who had picked up three at Lesley Evers, the store next door to Marigold Row.
Bright organza gowns, plaid jackets, flower splashed raincoats with matching umbrellas, belts with glitzy buckles and jewelry pouches to hold the earrings all made in Oakland California.
“This week is a good week to shop. A purchase of $250 will get you a discount of 25% and a free jewelry pouch,” said the shop assistant, a young girl in a brightly printed dress made by the store designer.
“A purchase of two dresses should run you up to that much,” she said. “One of our dresses was worn by the host of Good Morning America.”
The rayon blended clothes make travel a breeze, said the shopper. “I travel in Lesley’s dresses and when I reach my destination, I just change my shoes to more formal ones and I am good to go to the meeting.”
Also, they pack real easy. “I can just roll them up and throw them in a bag.” She was shopping for her daughter who would be inspecting mom’s purchases over Thanksgiving dinner.
Jewels for Christmas
At Marigold Row quilted and wool jackets, velvet and chikankari dresses and neatly-stacked scarves sat next to a new collection of 18-carat gold jewelry with lab diamonds. “Lab diamonds are becoming increasingly popular," said Mehta who sources her jewelry from India.
“Customers can bring back their purchases at any time. We will buy back our gold jewelry,” she confided. Having grown up in Delhi, she knows the practice of jewelers in India.
While statement jewelry is popular in India, Mehta said delicate designs work well in America. “We are carrying some larger pieces, for instance this chain of charms has been very popular. A client who bought the necklace saw me wearing it and said it would look great on her black dress. We have added jhumkas, or chandelier earrings to our offering as well.”
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A charm necklace with jhumkas at Marigold Row / Ritu Marwah
The Indian American engineers who are Sarini Kakkar’s clients follow the jewelry fashions in India where large chunky sets are being donned by the Bollywood filmstars.
“Jewelry like the one Neeta Ambani wore is now available with me, " said Kakkar, owner and designer of Sarini’s Creations. “Neeta Ambani has become a style icon,” she said.
Kakkar does find that the market for Indian jewelry from India is fragmented with a number of designers in India, of both clothes and jewelry, doing Facebook events and selling their wares direct to the customers in the U.S. Her clients prefer an informed local seller who can guide them in their purchases.
Homegoods from India
Knowledge of the tastes of the local market means curating and designing specially for them. In some cases, Marigold Row has designs specially woven by the designers.
Her relationship with the designers in India is very well established. “They co-brand their clothes with our label,” says Mehta.
Injiri, whose clothes are retailed at limited locations, retails with Mehta. Injiri makes clothing for women and textiles for home. The brand focus is on textile development and sustainable usage of materials.
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Cobranding with India’s lead designers Marigold Row. / Ritu MarwahManan, who has a shop in Khan Market in Delhi prides in the timelessness, and craftsmanship of their clothing. “Manan’s white shirt with natural plant prints is flying off the rack,” said Mehta. Neeru Kumar’s jackets and scarves can be found at Marigold Row and home collection at Restoration Hardware.
Neeru Kumar melds a contemporary sensibility with a commitment to sustaining the ancient textile arts of India, says Restoration Hardware. “Kumar celebrates weaving methods passed down through generations and honors natural fibers and pigments, whose organic variations are elemental to each design.
“Marigold Row brings designers with the same mission under one roof,” Mehta joined in.
In Town and Country, next to the acclaimed vegan restaurant, Wild Seed, at Hudson Grace, Homegoods the Indian American shopper has shown a great love for hand-crafted Peruvian vases and glass-blown hurricanes that hold the candles.
The Indian American shoppers are decorating their new homes and they have a good budget to spend, said the shop assistant.
“We really decorate the house for Diwali and keep the lights on till New Year,” said Sangeeta, a resident of Los Altos. In her house all festivals are celebrated by the family with good wine and cheer. Shopping is saved for the post-Christmas sales.
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