Downtown Business Features Downtown 40 Business Downtown Gallup Highlights INTERSTATE
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owntowns represent the soul of a city. This is in contrast to the idea of big box stores. There, the businesses are designed with huge parking lots that will accommodate the masses, attempting to make your life convenient (think uneventful). Everyone files into the store, grabbing a shopping cart and making their way around aisles filling it up with almost anything you can imagine, needing or not really needing. Plus, the new trend is you can just check yourself out now not needing the help of an associate. The whole ordeal can be pretty much a solitary experience. What makes our downtown businesses so unique is that these are individual businesses owned by local community members that give each establishment a different energy. These stores take on the personalities of their owners. Most of them are relatively small which immediately creates an atmosphere where conversations are part of the experience. You will find restaurants that continue serving delightful dishes that have been 10
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Page 11 Camille’s Sidewalk Café and City Electric Shoe Shop Page 12 Sammy C’s Rockin Sports Pub and Grille and Quintana’s Music Center Page 13 Gurley Motor Company Page 14 Yazzie’s Indian Art
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Page 15 Cortez Barber Shop Page 32 Art123 Gallery and La Montanita Co-op Food Market Page 42 Maria’s Restaurant and Weaving in Beauty Page 50 Don Diego’s Restaurant & Lounge Page 51 Rico Auto Complex
family recipes for generations. A unique leather shop that showcases repair work that has pretty much become a lost art. Jewelry stores that are filled with our communities beloved turquoise stones. Taking a moment to catch up on what’s happening in the community with your local barber. You can even do your grocery shopping at our local food coop. It is the variety that makes a trip downtown so special. Downtowns also encourage walking outside, always a healthy activity. Not just meaningless walking, but something that allows you to reenergize. Your senses smell the food being made, coffee being brewed, large murals that brighten the world, the sound of hellos, catching up with old acquaintances or just taking a moment to catch your thoughts in the large Courthouse Square seating area. If we don’t have a thriving downtown community, we kind of lose our community. So, make it a lifestyle change, become an advocate for downtown by spending your dollars locally.
