In the News

Area Shops Add Ethnic Layer to Fabric of Culture

Growth Reflects New Wave of Immigrants

Emily Wax
Washington Post Staff Writer
July 11, 2002; Page T12

Hot pink and mustard yellow hues swirl out from racks and shelves filled with hundreds of silk, satin and gold-speckled saris inside the cavernous second floor of Arlington's Indian shopping sanctuary on Wilson Boulevard. With its selection of south Asian fashions -- from mirrored clay bracelets to traditional wedding dresses and jewelry -- the store, Indian Spices, Gifts and Appliances, draws weekend crowds that surprise even the shop's owners.

"We grew and grew and then grew some more," said Poonam Singh, 26, whose parents were born in India and opened the store 30 years ago. "We used to be the only Indian clothing shop, and we were tiny. Now there are dozens of ethnic clothing stores all over the area."

PHOTO BY MARK GAIL-THE WASHINGTON POST

Gwen Burrell models a traditional African outfit made by her mother at the family's shop, Falika's Fashions, in Falls Church, one of many such shops that have opened in the area in recent years

Think of Falika's Fashions on George Mason Drive, where clothing from Liberia, Somalia and Sudan lines the shelves. Or Alexandria's Mount of Olives, where hijabs, head coverings worn by some Muslim women, are sold next to brightly colored Moroccan pant sets. Or the Eden Center in Falls Church, where traditional Vietnamese clothing is sold along with the latest fashions from Korea and China.

Sure, there's the mall with its trendy boutiques and well-stocked department stores. Its stores offer all of the amenities -- the right shoes, the hippest jeans -- to ease a new American's transition into life in the United States. But in Arlington and Alexandria, like many other communities across the country with large immigrant populations, there are also a growing number of ethnic-inspired clothing stores that provide immigrant communities with a taste of home.

"We have African immigrants who just love to come here and see the styles of their countries," said Tina Falika, who works for her mother, Rebecca, at the family's Liberian store, Falika's Fashions. "We also attract people from the Middle East and African Americans who want a taste of the region."

Many immigrants said there are times -- particularly special occasions -- when they prefer the traditional dress of their homelands.

"When I want to go to a party or have a party, I come here," said Ruksana Saifullah, 47, a shopper at Indian Spices, Gifts and Appliances. Saifullah came to the United States from Bangladesh 24 years ago. "I still like to dress this way when we have guests. It's traditional."

The stores are visual symbols of an immigrant group's presence and highlight its growing economic strength, said Nalin Jain, director of the Arlington Small Business Development Center at George Mason University.

The center provides seminars on "Multicultural Marketing" to the area's booming South Asian and Latino immigrant businesses, Jain said. The program, funded by the state Department of Business Assistance, provides immigrants with information on the basics of commerce to help them start businesses.

"There has just been tremendous growth in the number of immigrants and the number of stores they are opening," said Jain, himself an immigrant from India. "The immigrant spirit in this country has long been entrepreneurial. We want to make sure they get the licenses they need and understand the tax process. That way we can preempt a lot of problems and help guide them through the culture."

For more than 100 years, immigrant groups have established themselves in the United States by opening businesses and founding religious institutions. The businesses came to include supermarkets, restaurants, radio stations and newspapers. Like those establishments, clothing stores show the strength of an emerging community. They also highlight how newer immigrants, like European immigrants before them, are adding to America's expanding ethnic landscape.

Local business leaders love the growth and see the stores as a positive addition to the area's economy.

"There are indeed many of these stores popping up, and they do add a new layer to the economy and serve segments that might go under-served," said Rich Doud, president of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. "I think they have also prolonged the life of some areas that might have been blighted if they hadn't moved in. We don't have a lot of run-down areas in Arlington, and part of that is because these folks have a tendency to go in and fix up older properties."

Although the chamber still has few immigrant members, it has been actively recruiting newer business owners and hopes that disparity will change, Doud said.

Immigrant business owners say that programs such as George Mason's help them realize the resources that are available and also help them become a part of the wider community.

As multiculturalism has become more popular and major department stores and chains have copied ethnic fashions -- particularly Indian and African styles -- ethnic clothing stores have seen their business grow with customers who discover that the authentic items are available.

"It's funny, because Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters sell some western versions of our styles of the sari," Singh said as she stood amid the yards of French chiffon cloth and Indian cotton that are used to make the dresses. "And I am thinking 'Oh my God, they are probably making a lot of money off these things.'"

Indian Spices, Gifts and Appliances draws customers of all backgrounds, but the clientele remains largely South Asian. The saris range in price from $13 to $300. The store also does brisk business in ornaments that for centuries were worn by Indian women but are now trendy across all cultures. Madonna, for example, helped henna paint, which is used on the hands of Indian brides, become popular.

The store also sells Indian ice cream, frozen curry dinners, toothpaste from Pakistan, movies made in Bombay and transformers for electrical equipment that is either coming from or going to India and must be converted.

But most shoppers come for the clothing, which is shipped in several times a year and follows current Indian trends that grow largely from the movie industry in Bombay.

Near George Mason Drive and Seminary Road, a small store carries traditional yellow and pink party dresses from Vietnam. Girls wear the dresses for birthday parties.

"We do a lot of business here," employee Trung Troung said, adding that Vietnamese parents come in to buy the dresses for their daughters. "People want to have styles that remind them of what they used to wear."

Sometimes, the outfits serve immigrants' religious needs. Many stores throughout Alexandria and Arlington carry hijabs, the Muslim head coverings. Others carry dresses appropriate for the Muslim religion, styles that are longer and more modest than those sold at the local malls.

Falika's Fashions specializes in ornate embrodiery work on its traditional African items, such as the dress at left. "The more embroidery you have signifies the amount of weath you have," Tina Falika said. Washington Post photo

At Falika's Fashions, fabrics are shipped in from Africa and the Middle East, and Rebecca Falika makes each outfit by hand. She takes pride in the fact that no two dresses are exactly alike. The patterns draw from traditional African designs, from across the continent -- lands such as Ethiopia, Nigeria or Egypt.

The store opened eight years ago and has expanded each year.

PHOTO BY MARK GAIL-THE WASHINGTON POST

Tina Falika models an African outfit made by her mother, Rebecca, at the family's shop, Falika's Fashions, in Falls Church, one of an increasing number of ethnic clothing stores that have opened in the area.

Some items have an American flair. An African head wrap, for example, has an elastic band sewn in it so it can "just be thrown on quickly," Tina Falika said.

But much of the store retains traditional African style -- blouses with puffy sleeves and patterned wrap skirts with gold and silver embroidery.

Rebecca Falika, an immigrant from Liberia, worked as a nurse before deciding to follow her true passion for fashion. She combined that with her love of her country's culture.

"The more embroidery you have signifies the amount of wealth you have," Tina Falika said. "And we have a lot of clothing with a lot of embroidery. It's all so much fun. We feel lucky."