When Avalyn and I visited my sister Barbara and her husband John Coleman in Carlsbad New Mexico, we always have a good time--doing nothing! Compared to the Metroplex, Carlsbad is calm, dry, and quiet; the quietness usually wakes me up the first morning we are there.
We go to the same shopping and eating venues, each time--Walmart and The Red Chimney, Beall’s and Long John Silver, The Antique Mall and Furr’s Cafeteria. Then, for sure one day, we drive north about 35 miles to Artesia, New Mexico to eat at La Fonda Mexican Restaurant and visit Martha’s Fabric Store. Artesia is even smaller than Carlsbad, and mostly on the way to Cloud Croft for many visitors, just driving through. It is a town built on oil and agriculture, with an refinery cracking tower in the center of town, and surround by farms that grow a large part of the chili pepper crop in the state. However, people who live in nearby towns come to Artesia mostly to eat at La Fonda. And, anyone who sews will drive hundreds of miles to shop at Martha’s...
I don’t know how long Martha Derrick has been in business, but she is no spring chicken, and her store looks like it hasn’t changed in 50 years. Martha is now a widow, comes from a large ranching family, and still lives on the ranch. She has two daughters who find wonderful fashions for their ladies ready-to-wear, and yes, their store is another good place to shop in Artesia.
The unique thing about Martha’s is that she deals in fabric remnants and every kind of overstocked sewing merchandise you can image, from buttons to patterns. Avalyn and Barbara marvel and the variety of her fabrics--and the low prices. She runs the store all by herself, and it is hard to see how she makes a living. However, what is really FUN about shopping there is the complete disarray of her merchandise! Rows, that wander hither and thither, are so narrow you can hardly get through. Stacks on stacks, leaning out, in, and against one another. There seems to be no order whatsoever, but if you tell Martha what you want, she will find it! Even we men folks enjoy poking around and surprising our wives with unusual finds that they have missed.
Sometime last year, Artesia had terrible fire; it burned down several city blocks. Martha’s store was damaged, but not burned. We waited anxiously to hear she had survived, and she did. Some thought this would be the time she “retired”, but instead she moved a block down the wide main street and opened a new store. This “new” store is where the accompanying pictures were made; the sign in her front window was salvaged from the old store.
We are glad Martha was not harmed and that her store is still there, but, it has been cleaned up a bit. I sort of wish I had taken my pictures before the fire! However, take a look, and if you are ever even near Artesia, don’t fail to shop at Martha’s--and eat at La Fonda!