HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) — The busiest shopping season of the year is almost here, but before you head to the mall or open up that computer, you may want to consider shopping small.
From local chocolate shops and bakeries to one-of-a-kind toy stores, you can find countless unique gifts while giving back to your community.
One of those small businesses is Grandma’s Place in Harlem, where a former teacher is working to ensure all children develop a love for reading and learning.
Joelle Garguilo sat down with the owner of the shop, Grandma Dawn, to talk about her unique business.
Joelle: I look around this shop Grandma Dawn and it is so special and it makes me think about what you were like as a kid. What did you play with as a kid?
Grandma Dawn: I didn’t have toys as a child my mother gave me clothing and pajamas and tangerines and nuts and stockings.
Joelle: So who raised you? Or should I say what raised you?
Grandma Dawn: The block. The people on my block raised me. The tailor and his wife and two sons were my family. And I ran errands for the hairdresser and the barber and anyone on the block. I wasn’t allowed off the block. But my enterprise at 6 years old was running errands on the block for people.
Joelle: Your love of books where did that come from?
Grandma Dawn: My mom cleaned offices in the evening and she bought back books that were discarded I would pick up the books and I would read the books. I would read my sisters. And I would read the books my mom bought home from work. But I loved books because they told me about places I never saw about before.
Joelle: I also know the library in so many ways raised you.
Grandma Dawn: Yes
Joelle: Your sister would drop you off at the library?
Grandma Dawn: They call it the Harry Belafonte Library now. Before they called it the 15th Library and I read all the books in the children’s book and the lady told me I could go into the adult section and read those books.
Joelle: You have become the unofficial grandma to the neighborhood and that must be a title you wear with so much pride.
Grandma Dawn: Yes, because that’s why the store is Grandma Dawn because my children call me Grandma and so the kids on the block thought that my name was Grandma, so everyone called me Grandma Dawn.
“She’s like everybody’s grandma, so I think anybody who had that kind of grandma that they could go to speak to about anything you know if they had any kind of issue or even if it’s just something they just want to cuddle with somebody you know just have a nice body to hold onto that’s grandma,” a customer said.
Joelle: If there were to be a book about Grandma’s Place what would be the story you’d be telling in those pages?
Grandma Dawn: The resiliency of some of these parents and these children. I mean some of them have very difficult lives. But the fact that a parent who is barely making it will come in a toy store and take a recommendation about a particular book or toy, so it was my duty to have the right book and right toy. If this woman was going to spend this money on her child I wanted to make sure it was uplifting and it was important for the child and it would be something that would make the child feel that they were worth something.
Grandma Dawn has been the grandmother to her neighborhood for decades. She tells us what has kept her going all these years and how she’s working to ensure no child gets left behind, this Friday on storefront stories hosted by Joelle Garguilo. She’ll introduce you to some of the faces behind New York City’s small businesses ahead of Small Business Saturday. That’s Friday at 10:30 a.m. on ABC 7.
ALSO READ: Neighborhood Eats: Sanuki Udon offers quality, authentic Japanese-style noodles and tempura
This week’s Neighborhood Eats takes you to Sanuki Udon, a fast casual udon and tempura restaurant in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.
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