Metro Run & Walk co-owner Mark Russell (left) fits Ashley Baldeon and her daughter Bianca of Springfield (fourth grade at Saratoga Elementary School) for a new pair of running shoes. Photo by Tim Peterson.
When Jahangir Raja moved to Springfield over a decade ago, it wasn’t a favorable time for a heavily bearded Muslim native of Pakistan to find a job in America. He came shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Raja had lived in Stockholm for 24 years before he decided to move to the United States, to Springfield in particular. He was a fan of the city feel of it. “I like something happening around me,” he said. “I don't like this village life, too much quiet.”
But after a year and a half of wandering around, looking for a job, he had to find something to support himself and his family. The Desi Bazar in Springfield, an oriental grocery store, had only been open a year when it came up for sale. Raja was able to find the money to take ownership.
Eleven years later, Raja’s Desi Bazar serves a robust community of people hailing from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India and Sri Lanka with spices, crackers, soft drinks and candies imported from their mother nations. But so do another eight grocers in a two-mile radius, according to Raja.
“The grocery itself is everywhere,” he said, “but the meat, it draws the people.” Raja has fresh lamb, goat, beef and chicken, all slaughtered in a religious fashion to qualify it as halal in the Muslim faith, delivered five times a week from a slaughterhouse in Maryland. “I am proud to serve that freshest kind of meat,” said Raja.
For Thanksgiving, Raja had turkeys delivered special from the same slaughterhouse. He sold 80 in three days.
Robina Akhter of Springfield has been buying meat from Desi Bazar for over six years. “I come because the meat is good,” she said. “My husband likes the goat and it’s better here than other shops in the area. And their honor is good and the employees are very nice.”
Encouraging shoppers to supporting local businesses like Raja’s Desi Bazar is the mission of Small Business Saturday, an initiative started in 2010 by American Express. The Saturday is always the first one after Thanksgiving, riding the coattails of Black Friday. American Express offers businesses help with promotions for the day, and some stores offer special one-day sales.
AT SPRINGFIELD’S METRO RUN & WALK, a specialty store for walking and running shoes and apparel, co-owner Mark Russell said warm weather and sunshine helped with a successful weekend. From Black Friday through the weekend, they saw an increase in sales over the previous year.
Russell and his wife Helen were regular customers of the store, which first opened in 1998. In 2009 with them both transitioning or retiring from other jobs, they worked out a friendly buyout and kept many of the previous employees.
“It feels great when you walk in here because the people, the staff are extremely experienced,” said Mark. “I always felt embraced in the store, so it was natural to get into that business. We operate the same way.”
Mark prides their ability to accommodate special shoe fit needs of young children up to elderly people with extra protection or alignment requirements. The store also sponsors eight community running events each year and hosts running clinics at local elementary schools and Greenspring Village.
Ashley Baldeon and her daughter Bianca of Springfield stopped in to get mom new shoes after spending time at the Music & Arts store. “It was close, so we just came here,” she said. “There’s not many running stores around, especially where you can get help from the owner.”
THE GAMES WORKSHOP IN SPRINGFIELD has bounced around the community, at one time operating in the old Springfield Mall. Though an international brand with dozens of stores nationwide, each Games Workshop is essentially a franchise according to Springfield manager David George. And each location has its own community of gamers.
For the uninitiated, Games Workshop primarily deals in customizable figurines made by the company Citadel Miniatures. The three main categories are Warhammer (Medieval fantasy characters), Warhammer 40,000 (Sci-fi futuristic factions) and The Hobbit (characters straight from the full-length feature movies).
Players spend a lot of dollars and hours amassing, assembling, prepping and painting armies of soldiers and support vehicles or animals. Then they conduct tactical warfare on large table tops at Games Workshop, outfitted with landforms and structures in various states of destruction.
“This starts off as plastic, out of a flat box,” said George. “That's a labor of love.” George said the games appeal to both sexes, though more in favor of fathers, sons and grown men. “You get to do things, skills you'd want your child to develop anyway: patience, comprehension, fine motor skills, artistry.”
The Springfield location offers free painting lessons, and George said he’s planning to begin working with groups like the Boys & Girls Club and hosting play visits.
“For me it’s a stress reliever,” said Reynolds Wagemaker of Alexandria, currently serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. “This is where my friends are outside of work. It’s a good break from reality and they’re easy to get along and converse with. I love this store because it’s close and it’s so rare to find another nerd in the military, everyone keeps it hidden.”
Desi Bazar is located in Concord Shopping Center at 6127 Backlick Road, Metro Run & Walk is in Springfield Plaza at 7261 Commerce Street and Games Workshop is in the Town Shopping Center at 6810 Bland Street.