As many of you know, The Stray Dog origin story starts with our founders, Billy and Jane, and their somewhat deranged version of a honeymoon in Central Mexico. As their youngest child, I have heard the story time and again throughout my life. They had a whirlwind romance and married a few months after their first date. Post wedding, they packed up Billy’s pick up truck and headed south, with no real plan other than spending some time in another country and getting to know one another. They eventually landed in San Miguel de Allende after a long and memorable trek.
They spent a year exploring lovely San Miguel and the equally beautiful surrounding states where they were introduced to an incredible array of traditional Mexican artistry. The seed of the business was planted, first by ferrying the pick of the fantastic crafts they discovered back home to sell to stores in the area. Before long, they realized that Jane could design pieces for the local workshops and the brand really began to take form. Ultimately, it was in San Miguel, that the capricious, “long haul” honeymooners stumbled upon the people, dogs and craftsmanship that embody Stray Dog Designs.
It has been over thirty years and San Miguel is still the heart of the business and a huge part of our lives. I am a senior at UGA, studying advertising, and have been helping with social media at Stray Dog. Over Thanksgiving break, I joined them in San Miguel where they were on a work trip. While there, I wanted to focus on some of the old stomping grounds, many of which I had never seen, from their very earliest days as young ex-pats and would be business people.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
We spent our days visiting their favorite restaurants and shops, and if you’re interested, we’d love to share a separate piece highlighting all the spots we visited. But it wasn’t just about the food or the shopping, it was the places that held the most meaning for Billy and Jane that truly mattered.
We started at the Hotel San Sebastian, where Jane and Billy spent their first month or so in town. They laughingly described the $10 a night room, the fact that they were the only gringos in residence, and how much the lady at the front desk hated them. But what they remember most was how enchanting and beautiful it was despite the rundown look.
From there we visited the apartment on Recreo where they lived for the majority of that first year or so. It was here that they began to settle in, meet welcoming locals and fellow visitors, and adopt their first and second street dogs, La Princessa and Carlotta, for whom the company is named. La Princessa is actually buried, right outside that apartment’s door, in the beautiful interior courtyard, under an orange tree.
Billy then drove us over the cobblestone streets to Lupita #11, then home to Guadalupe Alvarez’s tin workshop “El Milagro” (The Miracle). This is where that seed of a business model began to blossom. It was Guadelupe and her craftsmen who created the very first Stray Dog “design”. And it was actually Guadelupe that told my mother TO even design something!
Which brings us to the last, and my favorite stop, today’s workshop, led by the beloved backbone of our business, Mariano Perez. Downstairs the ladies paint in bold colors, products hang like candy, and upstairs the drills hum and the hammers go ping ping as the metal frames and details are cut and constructed. Seeing the plethora of products and shapes make it feel like an explosion of my mother’s brain. It’s where all of her sketches come to life and visiting here always reminds me how alive the brand feels and why.
Thanksgiving in Mexico
After our tour of the city and days working at the workshop, Thanksgiving Thursday rolled around. Thanksgiving isn’t traditionally celebrated in Mexico, for obvious reasons, but Guadalupe Alvarez has been hosting a large, glamorous Thanksgiving dinner ever since her years of living in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Guadalupe’s relationship with my parents doesn’t stop at the tin shop 30 years ago. It stretches across decades of starting businesses together, traveling, raising children and grandchildren, and even living in the same cities at times. Her family and mine have become so intertwined that when I walked into this huge Thanksgiving party full of unfamiliar Spanish-speaking faces, I realized they were actually more familiar than I expected.
After the talking and the meal, Guadalupe had everyone stand up and share what they were grateful for, the type of activity I completely dread. She, as the hostess, started first, holding a typed speech. It didn't end up just being just a list of gratitude for life and family but also a beautiful ode to my parents, celebrating decades of friendship and collaboration. Her words brought nearly everyone to tears. One by one, each person stood and shared what they were thankful for, and even with the language barrier, we could understand the meaning in every word.
This long moment of sharing reminded me of the deep webs of relationships that have been built in San Miguel, relationships that continue to shape the brand today. San Miguel still matters because it isn’t just where the business began; it’s where it all began! It’s where friendships spanning decades were formed, workshops filled with laughter and noise came to life, dogs found homes, and where two people believed in an idea before it was even fully formed.
