Nat Stone (right) rings up a purchase for Libby Osborne, a longtime Global Village customer, two weeks before the West Bank shop closed it doors for good.

Photo by Jeremy Stratton

The tough economic times have claimed a casualty on the West Bank; after almost 40 years on Cedar Avenue, Global Village closed its doors at the end of March.

The store — a colorful clutter of imported clothing, art, incense, oils, jewelry and countless other world goods — was a fixture on the West Bank that, for some, symbolized the bohemian and multi-ethnic character of the neighborhood.

For Marcia Keegan, co-owner of the business with building owner Peter Dodge, the store meant even more. (Attempts to reach Dodge for comment were unsuccessful.)

“There’s some of my soul in here,” said Keegan as she looked around through tears at the business she’s largely responsible for building up over the past 33 years. “A lot of my soul.”

While that soul was still evident in the mosaic of goods on the walls and shelves, a closing sale — 30 percent off everything in the store — had thinned out the offerings.

“The economy and sales haven’t been there to support us,” said Keegan.

Customers — who “have been devastated” to learn of the closing — “come when they can, but they don’t have the money to spend because everybody is hurting,” she said.

“It’s such a rare store, so unique,” said customer Libby Osborne as she picked out a three-piece candleholder dangled with crystals. “I’ve always loved it,” said Osborne, who had shopped there for more than a decade.

Employee Ayla Graden’s relation to the store spans an even longer period — her entire life. “It’s always been here, my whole life,” said Graden, who grew up in the neighborhood and whose father Phil VanDervaart painted the signature “Global Village” sign, as well as the façade of Hard Times Café nearby.

“I grew up in this place,” said Graden, adding that, when she got old enough, Keegan offered her a job.

“It may seem like there’s a lot of stuff in here, but it’s really bare,” she said of the store in its last weeks. About a quarter of the inventory was gone, she estimated. “A lot of it’s sold, and it feels weird.

“It’s definitely a staple of the West Bank,” said Graden. “But everything’s ending and changing, I suppose.”

In recent years, the store introduced a new member to the community; Shanti, Keegan’s 3-year-old Great Dane, has been a fixture in the store since she was an 8-week-old puppy and “has made a tremendous amount of friends” that will miss her, said Keegan.

“You can’t be in this neighborhood everyday and not feel like you are a part of it,” said Keegan, a Longfellow resident. “I feel, because of the hours I’ve spent here, that I’m here for the community.” (In addition to imported gifts, Global Village also sold local amenities like stamps and tickets for shows at the Cedar Cultural Center.)

“It will always be a part of me,” she said.

last revised: April 1, 2009

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