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Each month, we’ll throw a dart at a map and write about where it lands.

LOCATION: 11100 Monroe Rd., Matthews

11100 Monroe rd., matthews

Bem-vindo!

The stretch of Monroe Road where you can find little pieces of Brazil

PLANTED IN A STRIP MALL on Monroe Road in Matthews is a patch of businesses that, together, are as Brazilian as Charlotte gets.

The sweet and savory smells of Brazilian specialties like pão de queijo (cheese bread) and coxinha (fried chicken croquettes) waft from the open door of Tropical Bakery & Café. Next door, shoppers pop into the Supermercado Brazileiro for Guaraná fruit soda, big bags of Brazilian rice, pressure cookers, herbal teas, and shampoo and lotion that o er the comforts of home. A Brazilian Assemblies of God church, Asemblea de Deus, sits on the corner. Beside it, Buy Brazil Jeans & Fashion sells dozens of styles of leather shoes, jewelry, and form tting jeans and shorts, tops, bikinis, and dresses in eye-popping colors.

Brazilian-born Alaide Ramos and her husband, Randy Sturm, moved the clothing shop from Stallings to the Monroe Road shopping center about ve years ago to be near other Brazilian-owned businesses and their customers—although they sell briskly to people from elsewhere who have found them online.

More than 7,300 Brazilians live in Mecklenburg County, according to 2018 Census data, and this stretch of Monroe Road is their gateway to products from home. Another market, A Taste of Brazil, is right across Monroe from the strip mall, which is just a few miles west of a Brazilian bakery and restaurant.

As I visit on a weekday a ernoon in December, Ramos steams a customer’s oor-length oral dress. COVID-19 forced the store to close for several weeks in the spring, and people are spending less than they used to—many come in seeking one item for $20 to $40 instead of multiple pieces or out ts.

But she and Sturm hope business will rebound when the virus eventually fades away and people travel and party—live—like they used to. “The Brazilian population is growing,” Sturm says, “just like the rest of Charlotte.” — Cristina Bolling