For the last 14 years, Juana Laurel, 60, and her family have been running a Peruvian artisanal store in the Mission District that they can only describe as a “mini Peru.”
Qosqo Maky, from the hands of Cusco in Quechua, offers a large selection of artisanal goods that Laurel personally buys from the local merchants in her native Cusco. The walls of the store at 2515 Mission St., near 21st street, are filled with beanies, jewelry, coats, sweaters, ceramics, paintings and, for kids, stuffed alpaca toys.
Born in Cusco in 1965, Laurel came to the United States for the first time in 2000, following her daughter. The family initially arrived in Stockton, and it didn’t take long for them to start hearing about a place with a lot of art that “was going to feel like home,” the Mission District.
And the Mission did not disappoint.
The neighborhood became home, both to the family and to her first brick-and-mortar store after about four years of selling at places like the Ferry Building and the intersection of Mission and 24th streets.
“It wasn’t like it is today,” said Laurel of that market. “It used to be much more organized.”
Laurel said she quickly saw a market for her products in the neighborhood.
“I feel happy and grateful knowing that I can bring the product from there [Cusco] and have people appreciate it here,” said Laurel, looking with pride at the products in her store. “It is also a way for me to support those merchants in Peru, and that feels great.”
“Everything is made by hand. Hence the name of the store,” said Laurel. “Even other Peruvians, when they walk in, say that it feels like Peru.”