Somerville – A convenience store in Somerville is bringing the culture of Mexico to Massachusetts.
Maria Ines Soler Meneses opened Amantolli two years ago in Bow Market after doing pop-ups for a while. She started this business because, as a Mexican immigrant, she struggled to find pieces that reminded her of her home here.
“I always feel proud to be Mexican. The whole time after coming to the United States, I was looking for authentic Mexican crafts and never found them,” she told WBZ-TV.
Meneses said her store is the only one of its kind in the Boston area, sourcing items directly from families in Mexico to support them.
She told us that most of the families she meets are women and children who sell their artwork on the streets of Mexico.
“With money, they can get resources, they can get food, they can pay for school, go to college,” she explained.
Meneses goes to Mexico two or three times a year to meet families and find new ones to support.
“We travel to different states looking for new families to work with us as a team,” she said.
Meneses uses the store as a way to teach people about Mexican culture and explain how all the pieces they sell are handmade.
“We have some pictures of the artists, so people can see the faces of who is making all this,” she said.
Her goal is to open a larger store one day so she can support more families in Mexico.
