HEADS UP | TONALÃÂ, MEXICO
April 13, 2008
AVENIDA Independencia runs west from the central square in Tlaquepaque, Mexico. For several blocks it is a pedestrian street, cobbled and lined with ornate mansions that, more than a century ago, served as weekend homes for the elite of Guadalajara. Today, they are shops featuring high-end wares for other weekend homes throughout the continent.
They make things easy: they have good selections, and they’ll happily pack up your handblown glasses and carved headboard and ship them to you, or even arrange custom orders. But prices rival those in the United States. For those with a serious love of shopping, and on the lookout for deals — especially on artisanal goods like pottery, ironwork, glass and furniture — it’s worth leaving the calm elegance of Tlaquepaque for the exuberant chaos of nearby Tonalã.
Tonalã is where the professionals shop. I visited with Rebecca Allen, an interior designer based in San Francisco, who has been making regular buying trips to Tonalã for more than a decade. She is part of an ancient tradition: the town, near rich clay seams, has been a center of pottery — and of trade more broadly — for millenniums. It remains one of Mexico’s top artisanal hubs; the streets are lined with shops and ateliers, and a complex at its heart features nothing but earthenware.
