Strolling down the bohemian end of Tērbatas iela near the intersection of Matīsa iela in Rīga, one’s eye is drawn to a glittering sign above a shop and lounge called Pērle. The business is the brainchild of Žanete Skarule, a former MTV Latvia VJ, and Edijs Vucēns, who used to manage an extreme sports shop.

On their return from travels in the United States last year, they noticed empty shop fronts appearing everywhere and decided that the time was right—with cheap rents and a cooperative landlord—to fill one of those locations and bring an idea to life.

Pērle is unconventional. The place is a combined café, furniture shop, clothes shop (with new clothes as well as “clothes with experience”), bar, social platform and more. The furniture and clothing, sourced from Berlin and Latvia, has an 1980s theme.

As nearly everything in the shop is for sale, the ambience of the place constantly changes. The table where you sat your coffee or wine down yesterday may not be there the next time you come in. In the evenings there could be a concert on or a film night, an art event or a party open to anyone. The clothes rack is on a pulley system and gets raised above everyone’s heads to open up an area for partying.

Because money was in short supply after the couple’s travels, there was a strong motivation to be creative. The shop was set up with friends helping out with the painting, the knocking down of walls and with ideas. As many people in Rīga cannot afford new things now and are not in a position or willing to pay huge prices for labels, the shop is finding its niche.

A mezzanine chill-out lounge in the shop has free Wi-Fi. Here patrons can contribute to the shop’s blog using a typewriter and paper. The result is placed on the blog board in the shop.

Like many other people starting a business in Rīga, Skarule and Vucēns have faced bureaucratic wrangles. The sign apparently didn’t suit the streetscape or the historic nature of the building. The approval for the sign finally came through on opening day and was still being screwed on as the first guests were arriving.

Issues with having music playing also were encountered, as there was one institution to go to regarding copyright, another to get permission to play the music, with a separate payment to be made if it’s played off a computer rather than from the original disc, according to Skarule and Vucēns. Then come the fines for not having this or that, though there doesn’t seem to be any booklet or one-stop-shop to get information about all the permits one needs or what to watch out for when starting a shop. 

The store has a friendly and artistic atmosphere and seems to provide the answer for the female customer wanting to drag an unwilling male partner with her on her shopping trip. He can sit down, have a drink and watch the passers-by on Tērbatas iela through the large store windows, while she tries on different clothes. Problem solved.

Pērle is located at 65 Tērbatas iela in the central part of Rīga and opens at 11 a.m., closing at 9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, midnight on Wednesdays, and 2 a.m. on Thursdays to Saturdays. However, when the atmosphere has been really good on a Friday night the last guests have been known to exit at sunrise. Sunday is Pērle’s day of rest.

It may be surprising that in the “land that sings” there are very few places where a visitor can actually hear traditional Latvian music unless they attend a particular scheduled concert. However, a young foreign-born Latvian and some enterprising locals recently got together to fill the gap by opening a Latvian folk club in downtown Rīga.

Folkklubs Ala, a spacious cavern-like venue at 11 Audēju iela in Vecrīga, is a joint venture between 22-year-old Australia-born Latvian Krišjānis Putniņš and locals Didzis Felsbergs and Baiba Apine.

Putniņš, who had previously worked in hostel management and in catering, was introduced to Felsbergs, who provided the start-up capital, by a mutual friend. Putniņš had prepared the banquet at the friend’s wedding and the latter was so impressed that, knowing that Felsbergs had the idea for the folk club, recommended Putniņš’ catering skills.

Through advertising on a Latvian social networking site Felsbergs found a number of people interested in working on the concept. After a number of planning meetings, it crystallized into a group of three people with Apine joining them. Apine also brought in her experience in the tourism industry.

All three had a keen interest and contacts in Latvian folklore.

Quality service and low pricing for food and drinks—as well as having live music as often as possible—is their secret to bringing in the patrons when the purse strings are tight. The formula should be attractive not only to locals, but to tourists and foreign-born Latvians as well.

Putniņš, who was born and raised in Adelaide and moved to Latvia 10 months ago, said that a lot has been achieved by word-of-mouth recommendations. The spacious venue, which has a large basement, has been used for parties as well and people are pleasantly surprised that there is no charge for having them there. Catering can also be arranged and a bar service is available. 

As well as traditional Latvian music, Latvian dishes using local produce and presented innovatively are on offer and at very reasonable prices (around 1 to 4 lats). The food can be washed down with an assortment of local brews, with Brengulis beer available at 1.20 lats per half litre. Local Latvian wines and teas made from various fruits and berries can also be tried and there is also a range of spirits available.

Traditional Latvian music is played live by local groups on Friday and Saturday nights. Friday is jam session night, when those with musical talent and those who want to try out their hand can join in with the local folk band.

There is also a folk dancing night and an evening for karaoke, with the latter taking place downstairs to spare the sensitive ears of other patrons. Programmes for tourist groups showcasing Latvian culture, music and cuisine are also planned for the future.

Folkklubs Ala is open from 11:30 a.m to 1 a.m. during the week and from 11:30 a.m. till the last patrons call it quits on weekends. The club is planned as a place to drop in during the day, with various board games available for customers.

The club’s Web site is www.folkklubs.lv.