Welcome to Living St.

Louis.

I'm Brooke Butler, and this week we're on South Grand, a stretch of South City often referred to as the International District.

It's got an impressive roster of small businesses and dedicated patrons.

From national events that attract visitors here to small businesses with big values, our stories today are all about how local impact adds up.

From a national spotlight on the ice and the economic ripple it created here at home.

- It's putting money directly in the pockets of independent business owners.

- To how donated materials are finding second lives and insights from a sustainable design expert.

- Because you can put something out in a dumpster in St.

Louis and by the end of the day it's gone, clearly there's a want and a need for reuse and recycling.

- To the story of Zee Bee Market's founder, whose local roots have global connections.

And a stop at the Drip Community Coffeehouse, a place built to be more than just a cafe.

It's all next on Living St.

Louis.

♪♪ - In February, the 2026 Winter Olympics will take off in Milan, and people from all over the world will be tuning in to see athletic greats.

But earlier this month, St.

Louis was a part of that, with Enterprise's ice rink becoming a national stage and figure skating Olympians securing their spot on the team.

♪♪ The 2026 U.S.

Figure Skating Championships took over downtown St.

Louis, bringing in thousands of spectators and dozens of athletes from across the U.S.

This isn't the first time our city has hosted this event, but President of the St.

Louis Sports Commission Marc Schreiber was set on bringing it back.

I think there's the element of just the boost it gives to our community, the value of entertainment and having something that also sort of inspires us as well, especially when it comes to young people, to be able to be here at Enterprise Center and see such great talented athletes and role models that a month from now are going to be competing on the Olympic stage is huge.

And so to have St.

Louis in that spotlight, it brings like added relevancy to our region and something we can celebrate.

Figure skating is the oldest sport of the Olympic Winter Games, and St.

Louis is America's first Olympic city.

We are the birthplace of the Olympic gold medal.

Celebrating that legacy and putting St.

Louis on the map is a goal of the St.

Louis Sports Commission.

You know, we have that special place at a unique table.

Only a handful of cities can say they're an Olympic city, and we join the world's greatest communities across the globe of having that claim to fame, and we should make the most of it.

It took years to secure St.

Louis as the location for the 2026 U.S.

Figure Skating Championships, and it takes a lot to turn a city into an Olympic destination.

Although there may be some challenges to supporting a large influx of people to our region, Explore St.

Louis' Catherine Neville says events like this are critical to our local economy.

It's raising tax revenues, it's putting money directly in the pockets of independent business owners, it is filling hotel rooms, which impacts everyone from the people who clean the rooms to the folks who are working the front desk.

So this impacts average everyday St.

Louisans in a truly tangible way.

Neville estimated an economic impact of around $20 million, with almost $15 million coming from direct spending.

The six-day event alone brought in over 90,000 attendees.

Not only are people here spending money, but they are exploring our city in ways Neville says we may not realize.

I think a lot of folks in St.

Louis maybe don't think of us as a tourist town, but we have millions of people who come to St.

Louis for tourism, whatever shape that might take.

It could be a girls weekend, it could be an event like this, but all of that adds up to economic impact and also pride, civic pride of welcoming people here.

And when people come to St.

Louis, they leave singing our praises.

Schreiber hopes to host more Olympic events in the future, especially given our historic ties to the Olympic Games.

It's like he told me, "We're going to always be an Olympic city."

They say once an Olympic city, always an Olympic city.

♪♪ - On South Grand, sustainability isn't just a buzzword, it's built into the block.

In fact, many of the buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Habitat for Humanity Restore isn't one of those places, but salvaging materials for a greater purpose is at the heart of its mission.

Whether you're looking to save big money or because you like nice things, there's no shortage of places to buy home furnishings around St.

Louis.

But a place that might be overlooked could have just what you're looking for, and yeah, might require a diamond-in-the-rough mentality, but supports a larger mission.

Because you can put something out in a dumpster in St.

Louis and by the end of the day it's gone, clearly there's a want and a need for reuse and recycling.

Harper Zalonko is the Director of Resource Development at Habitat for Humanity St.

Louis.

At their restores, they accept donations of new and used home goods and supplies that are sold to the general public, and the proceeds then go back to supporting their mission of building affordable housing.

So Habitat homes are only one part.

We want to make sure that our community has access to resources to build themselves up as well.

And not everybody can afford to buy a brand new stove, but they can come to a Habitat Restore and buy what might actually be a brand new stove or a slightly used stove and start building up the components of their home to make it a more safe and livable place for themselves so that we can all live in a more safe, equitable community.

Well, we are here.

I'm here with my grandmother and my aunt.

We are looking for a bookcase.

Why not just go to Ikea?

Because the older things or reused things have character and stories to them.

One of the things we saw was like a Hope Chest, Cedar Chest.

And inside it, it has the dedication to the person, the idea to have that in your house and to know that somebody made something for someone with such love and craftsmanship and to have that in your own home, it's not lost.

And if it just went to a landfill, it would be lost forever and that would be a shame.

Damon Guthrie, General Manager, has been with the ReStore for over 12 years.

Now, what do you think about the whole like Ikea, Amazon furniture trend that's happening?

Those items are, those items are very trendy.

They are.

And they're cheap.

They're cheap and they're a lot more modern.

But it's still a lot of people that like the old world charm, that older look.

- Well, and I would say it's sturdier, it lasts longer.

- Yes, it has dovetails, doors on the quality.

The wood is real, it's not compressed.

So those items really have a lot of value to them 'cause they've been around a while and they're still sturdy.

- What do you think has been the biggest change over the past decade plus?

- So once TVs became a lot thinner, we started getting an influx of those big TV stands, and they weren't fad sellers.

- I didn't even think about that.

- But a lot of people started repurposing them and turning them into the wardrobe.

They were turning them into wardrobe chests and stuff, so you have to just pitch it and say, "Hey, well, you know," and then they say, "I never thought of that," and then they'll just put up-- What is fashionable and doable changes almost monthly.

So one month it might be taking antique curio cabinets and putting those into use, and then maybe it's finding new uses for doors or finding new gardening receptacles that you can put into your backyard with sustainable materials.

We've seen people do things with dishwashers that we were never expecting.

So the trends are always changing and Habitat always has materials to support those wants and needs for our DIYers, but then also people who have rental properties or just want to take care of their own homes.

Whether it's giving second life to a vintage chair or transforming a thrift store find into something completely new, DIY is more than just about style.

It's part of a larger conversation about sustainability in the spaces we live.

We went to Maryville University and talked with a sustainability interior design professor about how the decisions we make in designing our homes can impact the planet.

You teach sustainable design.

Correct.

What is that?

Little or no waste is really the goal with sustainable design.

Other factors to consider are the treatment of the workers making the furnishings.

Are they paid a fair wage?

Do they have safe working conditions?

And then there's the actual materials and consideration of the impact sourcing those things has on a community and the environment.

What would you recommend people look for when they're shopping for sustainable furniture design?

Yeah, there's a few things.

So one would be renewable materials.

A classic example is bamboo.

So if you compare a bamboo table or old growth maple table, the bamboo will be the more sustainable material choice.

With that said, if you did want that maple table, there are labels and certifications out there which could still be made responsibly.

So there are a lot of labels out there similar to that that could also work.

Another aspect is health and the avoidance of chemicals.

So unfortunately if a piece of furniture has chemicals in it, they will release into the air over time.

That's called off-gassing.

And so that will end up in the air you breathe in your home.

Finally, one really important principle that's kind of underlying is if you can use a refurbished piece of furniture or give something a second life, that is always the most sustainable choice of any.

You're not using fresh resources.

The product's already been made, so can you rehab that to fit your needs?

Think about your everyday choices.

Your purchasing power is a power, right?

The way you spend your money, one way or the other, is telling of what you believe in and also drives change.

And so even if climate change is so overwhelming as a topic, right, and there's a lot of anxiety about it, but if you can start with your own personal choices in everyday life, that would be a great way to start.

- It's not a St.

Louis alleyway unless you see, you know, piles of furniture.

What do you hope people would do instead of just dump it out in the alley?

Well, I would like for them to know about Habitat and know that we got a free pickup.

Yeah, because free pickup.

Yeah, we have a free pickup service.

We also have a free deconstruction service.

I'm the deconstruction coordinator as well.

To come and like take cabinets and doors or whatever.

Yeah.

When certain people are free.

Free.

Yeah, we do that for free.

Yeah, because we get to resell the items.

Well, that's less work than bringing it out to the alley.

That's less work than bringing it out to the alley.

The Habitat mission at its core is about sustainability.

So we take that into account on our construction sites, as well as in our administrative offices, as well as the resource.

So we're keeping literal tons of materials out of the landfills every year and bringing them back into active use in our community.

So they're not going into a dumpster and then go rot in a landfill.

They're going back so that a family can sit around a table and have a meal together and kids have a safe place to lay their head at night.

Our next story features another local business rooted in sustainability, but with a more international focus.

Zee Bee Market, originally located here on South Grand, but now in downtown Maplewood, was founded by Julio Zegarra- Ballon, who shared his story in Nine PBS's most recent collaboration with Humans of St.

Louis.

I think all of us don't always know where life is going to take us.

We don't always know that we've chosen the right career.

We don't always know that we've chosen the right college education.

But what we do is we face life as it is.

We get jobs.

We do them well.

Some of us are lucky enough to love the jobs they do and they continue.

Others realize that somewhere along the line, that was not what they wanted.

Along the way, I was lucky enough or blessed to find that there was a plan B, there was an alternative.

And when I looked into this, I just realized, wait a minute.

It feels like every single day prior to today was meant to happen.

And that brought me to this point so that I could choose now to do something for myself and follow this new path.

♪♪ (speaking in foreign language) I am one of six children from a family, both working parents.

And I remember at five years old, all I wanted was just to be like my older brother and follow him around town, riding my bike and getting into all sorts of trouble.

At the age of 10, I completely fell in love with commercial airliners, and all I wanted to be was a pilot and travel the world because I thought that was my only way I could travel and visit new places.

But the time came to make a decision about going to school, and so I applied and got accepted into the economics program of a university where I eventually graduated with a degree in economics.

I found a part-time job teaching English as a second language in Arequipa, in my hometown, while I was attending classes.

One of those days I met this beautiful, smart, incredible woman from the U.S.

Her name is Kathy and after dating a few months we decided to get married.

The day after I got my degree with economics we came to the United States.

I quickly learned, however, that my degree from a foreign university was really not valid in a university here in the U.S.

So little did we know that many years later we would end up working in the retail industry, which is where I grew up, essentially.

I had been working for this giant retailer company based in St.

Louis for a number of years at various capacities and various roles.

I reached a point as a corporate buyer where I began to understand the supply chain a little bit more and actually began to question.

And as we probably all can imagine, most of what we consume every day, most of the things we purchase every day are produced in China, are produced overseas.

And sadly, the truth is in many of these companies that bring and import goods from around the world, or especially China, they are not necessarily created, they're not necessarily manufactured in ethical ways.

Most of these companies really have one goal in mind, and that is to earn more money for shareholders and to make more money at whatever expense.

And that comes, unfortunately, sometimes at the expense of people and our planet.

And through this journey and this moment of trying to figure out what I wanted to do and how I wanted to use my talent, my knowledge, my expertise working in retail, that seed started to grow and germinate.

And I realized there is this powerful idea that I could start a business.

I kind of emailed him to myself so that I could download him on my PC.

Fairtrade is really a business model.

It's a business model focused on two things, putting people and planet first over profits.

Every decision that we as business owners make is ensuring that we do a very thorough evaluation of the products we want to source and we make sure that the suppliers and the people that are on the ground producing those things or working directly with artisans or farmers are in fact getting paid, receiving fair compensation for the work they do.

It is an art form that with the automation of our industry is slowly disappearing.

In something that Fairtrade does and does it really well is to protect those art forms that promote the use of our hands.

And so when you are supporting a community of artisans today that still uses hand carving, block printing, camphor stitching, quilling, art paper, any form of manual work, you're essentially preserving art forms that would otherwise disappear.

Each and every product is uniquely handcrafted, is truly a celebration of the talent and skill of those makers, and it truly represents what we all strive to do, which is quality in products we source, but also looking for the quality of the lives of the people who are making them.

♪♪ And of course, as a business owner, I wear many hats.

Today I'm wearing the hat of thinking about our email marketing for the day, our social media presence, purchasing some product that I know we're low on, and then opening merchandise that may have arrived today or will arrive tomorrow.

So because I need to also face our customers in the best way possible, I rely on my employees to do that.

If I have to travel and have to be out of the country or out of town for a while, I feel so lucky to have two individuals who will run the business as though they were the owners themselves.

They are not driven because there's an incentive of earning a million dollars tomorrow.

They're driven because they believe that what we're doing is truly making an impact.

And they love the same "aha" moment that I've enjoyed throughout my career doing this each and every time a customer walks in who has never stepped into a Zee Bee Market store before.

I was blessed to have a career in the United States as a foreign born, where I could apply my knowledge, my skill, bilingualism when needed, to build a career in retail.

I have never looked back of why did I choose this, but I remember having a heart-to-heart conversation with my wife at one point, asking her, "I want to follow this dream, but this is going to come with a few compromises.

It's going to come that we may not get the same benefits.

I may never be able to replace the salary that I was making before.

Would you be okay with that?"

And all she said to me is, "Don't put our house on a loan, collateral.

As long as you don't jeopardize our home, you have my blessing.

Follow your dream."

So have I regretted?

The only regret I would have is that why didn't I start earlier?

Do we run, do we leave, do we stay, do we go?

Where the place that we call home?

Is it selfish to me if I sell it and leave?

'Cause it's telling me how far we're going.

In the heart of South City is a coffee shop where some patrons say has the best coffee in town.

And right here at the Drip Community Coffee House is a place of love, of kindness, of activism, of hope, of power.

And we're the shepherd of this house always says, "Welcome home, family."

♪♪ We always say, "Welcome home, family."

Because I say family, because that means that not only am I accountable to you, you're accountable to me, and we are accountable to this house to make sure that we take care of the house.

We are responsible for each other.

We want you to feel seen, loved, and cared for.

You never know who's gonna come in and what they're feeling that day.

And sometimes it's just very important just to have a human connection and just feel seen.

A sentiment that weighs heavy on this owner's heart as she was intentional about where she opened the coffee shop.

We're not business as usual at the drip.

I wanted to go where the problems are.

I wanted to come where brothers and sisters that were addicted to drugs, that were struggling.

I wanted to provide a beautiful space in the heart of that to create a space that we all can feel seen and loved in.

A gem in the heart of South City, chronicling the good, the bad, and the ugly of America's history.

With some of our country's most political movements on the walls with incredible leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Frida Kahlo, Gandhi, every single piece of property in this home is intentional, including banned books as part of the Banned Book Library.

I always say I wish the White House looked like this, right?

Our struggles, our pains, our ups, our downs, it's on the wall so we can have comfortable and uncomfortable conversations about what is happening in hopes to change it, right?

And sometimes you gotta be the change that you're looking for.

I just want it to be where nobody else want it to be.

- So we're known for the sweet potato latte.

One of the things is the diaspora tongue of Africans love sweet potato.

So we wanted to take that and kind of twist it and put our own expression on that.

We have what we call the Riot.

It's not showing on our menu right now, but it's also dedicated to the Ferguson Uprising.

Just general drip coffee your normal lattes, espresso shots, whatever you want, we have it.

Trained baristas/bartenders from other spaces.

We can do it.

- Bringing you the perfect cup of joe that drips love for the community.

- Because it's home.

It's not just my home, it's all of our home.

It's home away from home.

and just relax and just be in this moment with us.

Let us serve you, let us love on you, let's be family.

- And as you'll hear Tosha warmly say.

- Just welcome home, family.

♪♪ - This week in St.

Louis, - This week in St.

Louis history, January of 1924, the front page news was the death of Lenin and speculation of who would be his successor.

But when the news broke, a lot of St.

Louisans were busy.

They were out on Art Hill.

When winter weather that week brought cold and snow, they took out the sleds and went out for what they called coasting.

Reports said a clear sky and bright moon kept Hills throughout the city busy into the night.

The Post described Art Hill as a democratic gathering place.

Clerks, society girls, factory hands, white collar workers, college youths, Negro children, flappers, and small boys and others, all rubbing elbows and hovering close around the bonfire.

It's a familiar St.

Louis thing to this day.

Sledding on Art Hill's been going on since the World's Fair shut down in 1904, creating memories as recently as the last snow, with more to come in the next.

And that's Living St.

Louis.

What's your favorite part about South Grand?

The shops, the restaurants, the traffic?

I'm a big fan of Jay's International Market.

Let us know at ninepbs.org/lsl.

We love hearing from you.

I'm Brooke Butler.

Thanks for joining us.

♪♪ Living St.

Louis is funded in part by the Betsy and Thomas Patterson Foundation and the members of Nine PBS.

♪♪