FREDERICKTOWN — Family plays a significant role in Leo Vasquez’s life, and that was evident as the community celebrated the official opening of Sara’s Goods on Tuesday.
“I’m very thankful for my mother and my father who have helped me support and build this business. The inspiration behind it is my little sister,” Vasquez said at the official ribbon-cutting.
“I’m just very happy and glad to be here. I hope that I’m able to help out and get more involved in the community.”
The store at 159 N. Main St. carries jewelry, personal goods, decorations, silverware, clothing, and other items.
“I would like to think of us as kind of a resale, kind of like a little Walgreens, but a little better,” Vasquez said.
“I don’t really like the idea of thrifts because I don’t think that’s what my store brings. That’s not the type of environment I have.”
However, he said he is selling at thrift prices to make it affordable.
Sara’s Goods: A family affair
As the Lewis Center resident and his father traveled around searching for a location away from city life and with an “open field type of feel,” they stumbled on Fredericktown.
Vasquez has a finance background and has been in the banking industry for a while.
His father has always had a passion for selling.
“He’s a really good salesman, and he always had a lot of great things that he wanted to sell,” Vasquez explained.
“So at this point, we just decided that I believed in him, and he wanted to open up the shop. So it was his idea. I just kind of enhanced it and helped pursue it further.”
Sara’s Goods is named after Vasquez’s sister, Sara.
“I was an only child for a while, and I always wanted a sibling. When she finally appeared, she became a little princess of the whole family,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez said that in addition to establishing and growing the store, the goal is to provide some form of generational wealth to leave behind for his siblings.
“So we decided that the first shop’s going to be under my sister. What other business ventures that we have are going to be my brother’s name,” he said.
‘A little bit of everything’
Vasquez noted that Lewis Center is close to Polaris.
“It’s kind of right there with the mall, so I feel like everyone kind of just has their own thing there. And there’s Marshalls and T.J. Maxxes around that area as well,” he said.
“When I came around this little town, I heard that a lot of my neighbors are new to the community as well or they haven’t been established for that long, and that this little town is starting to just pick up.”
As he and his family tore down walls, repainted, installed carpet, and brought in inventory, he asked passersby questions to understand what they were looking for.
“After hearing out the community and kind of just listening, kind of just investigating … I realized that maybe this store would be really good for the community as far as convenience and be able to provide a little bit of everything,” Vasquez said.
The shop opened on June 8 but did so with little fanfare.
“We did really well, but we didn’t make any big announcements because I wasn’t able to be fully committed just yet, especially with my hours,” Vasquez explained.
After Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting, he is fully committed.
For now, Vasquez will commute from Lewis Center. However, he said he wants to move to the area and change his lifestyle.
Sara’s Goods is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The shop is closed on Sunday and Monday.
You can reach them through Facebook, online, or via email.
