Chez Maria
Have you heard of Maria’s shop in Houmt Souk? Some people will tell you it’s the most beautiful shop on the island, and they’re absolutely right!
As for me, I’d say that Maria is the Monsieur Jourdain of the ‘concept store’. You remember… Molière… *The Bourgeois Gentleman*… Monsieur Jourdain… prose… Long before the very idea of the ‘concept store’ was even conceived, Maria had created a concept store without realising it; but don’t go and tell her that – she runs her ‘boutique’ and couldn’t care less about trendy buzzwords. Maria works, Maria rushes about, Maria creates, Maria lives life at 100 km/h.
And Maria is deeply committed to the island of Djerba, to women, and to craftspeople (especially women craftspeople)… It is impossible to draw up an exhaustive list of the Djerban civil society organisations in which Maria is involved and to which she devotes so much of her time.
Maria is also a true champion of fair trade; she has been practising it naturally for over 30 years, without giving it a second thought, simply because it seems the right thing to do and she simply couldn’t do otherwise. She trains and supports a large number of craftswomen, providing them with designs, techniques and sometimes even raw materials, before buying their work from them at a fair price to sell in her shop.
And to finish off, I’ll let you in on a secret: Maria is always the first to know when a public figure and/or celebrity is visiting Djerba (but don’t expect to get any information out of her – discretion and modesty mean Maria is as tight-lipped as a tomb). And do you know why? Because SHE is the one they call so that she can come up with and prepare the perfect welcome gift.
Aries Boutique (Chez Maria), right in the heart of Houmt Souk’s pedestrianised centre, on Rue du 20 Mars.
Open from 9 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday and from 9 am to 12 noon on Sundays.
PS: I just forgot to mention that at Maria’s you’ll find Djerba and Tunisian crafts and creations, from crockery to clothing, from throws and bedspreads to decorative items, from jewellery to perfumes… Everything for your home, for you, for your loved ones… and always of impeccable quality, with exceptional design and at a fair price.