Featuring original regional products
As La Paz was getting ready for a night of fun rides, live performances, and scrumptious street food along the Malecon for the anticipated first day of the 2025 La Paz Carnaval, the governor of Baja California Sur, Víctor Castro was in town to celebrate the opening of the new artisanal store at the ISCA cafeteria, located at Avenida 16 de Septiembre, on the corner of Belisario Domínguez, in downtown.
For Víctor Caballero, head of the Arts and Culture Institute of Baja California Sur (ISCA), curating a selection of made-in-Baja California Sur products was at the core of this initiative, as part of a bigger goal to support local entrepreneurs by offering them a dedicated space to showcase and sell their products.
Part of the ISCA, the La Paz Cultural Center was inaugurated on September 13, 2010, and has since established itself as a benchmark in promoting artistic and cultural expression in Baja California Sur.
With the addition of this new store, locals and tourists can now purchase an extensive list of local products including traditional machaca, dry meats, cheeses, chorizo, salsas, handcrafted liqueurs, soaps, decor, teas, and more at a very reasonable price, with many products between $100 to 200 pesos. This offers an excellent opportunity for those visiting to support the local economy and take home more authentic and meaningful souvenirs without breaking the bank.
A physical store for such products allows the producers to focus on manufacturing and marketing their products, relieving them of the inconveniences of setting up in traditional street artisanal markets or selling door-to-door, expanding revenue and production.
During my chat with Governor Castro, he explained that this store to him is like a “window” or a “portal” into another world within Baja California Sur, educating and introducing the residents of this state, and those visiting, to the vastness of what is being produced here, whether its coffee or honey. To my question, whether there are plans to open more locations around the state, the governor replied that the idea will be entertained depending on the success of this first store.