Tucked between aisles of cutting boards and salad spinners, you might find China Fair owner Will Beck helping a customer find bakeware for their next dinner party or an appliance for their new apartment. The peaceful quiet of the store is occasionally interrupted by the sound of sharpening knives, a service China Fair has offered to its customers since its establishment in 1966. The business has stayed in the same location, 70 Needham Street in Newton Highlands, since its early days.
Alongside everyday cookware and appliances, China Fair’s shelves are stacked with unique items that you’ll likely not find anywhere else. Step into one aisle, and you’ll find ordinary storage bins and cutting boards. Step into another, and you’ll find household items you never knew you needed. A julep strainer? Ravioli stamps? Corn cob holders? Whatever the event, whatever the recipe, China Fair has supplies for the occasion. Newspaper clippings taped above shelves of terra cotta cookware and hammered metal woks instruct potential buyers on how to properly cook and clean the equipment, making the use of a new tool feel just a little bit more manageable.
Sourcing items from across the globe
Owner Will Beck says that China Fair aims to source from areas “where the products are indigenous, where they’re of the highest quality.” As a result, one might see that the crystal gracing China Fair’s simple wooden shelves has traveled all the way from Czechoslovakia or France – and if they look a little bit closer, they’ll see that much of the store’s metal cookware has its origins in Germany. Shipping items across the globe can be expensive, but it’s a price China Fair is willing to pay to bring customers top-notch kitchen materials.
From the moment customers enter the store, pushing open its glass door, they see products marked in languages from all over the world. From German coffee pots advertising that they keep any hot beverage “op de juiste temperatuur” (at the right temperature) to Italian storage containers at sizes ideal for “servire con stile” (serving with style), a customer might just have to open Google Translate to fully appreciate the range of countries from which China Fair sources its products.
Many of China Fair’s products, whether imported from abroad or sourced locally, have a distinct personal feeling to them. Paella pans in one corner of the store are said to be handmade in Valencia, Spain, by a brand named Garcima—a family-owned business with “decades of history producing authentic pans,” according to their site. China Fair’s support of that family-owned business is significant because of its own roots: its ownership has passed through two generations of the same Newton family through the many years it’s been in operation.
Looking at cookie cutters from the United States in one aisle of the store feels like taking a trip through time, where yellowed labels for “deer” and “bell” shapes are in formal script while others appear more modern, scrawled with a ballpoint pen. It’s a conversation between the generations that have worked in China Fair, where aspects of its past and its current life are both equally present.
Consistency for over 50 years
China Fair may not have fully moved on from its past life, but that’s what makes it so loved by its customers: its old-fashioned feel and commitment to quality at a value renders it cherished by many Newton residents.
China Fair’s website (www.chinafairinc.com) carries the same style, appearing slightly out-of-touch with brightly colored red and blue text in retro fonts, yet it also reflects an emphasis on functionality above all. Customers are able to search through a total of 4,014 inventoried products online to find exactly what they’re looking for. And if they still can’t find what they need, they’re strongly encouraged to email China Fair staff. The website states a promise that staff “respond to every email question,” showing a commitment to personally helping customers one-on-one that is rarely found in an increasingly automated world.
Will Beck attributes China Fair’s continued success to its unchanging values and large customer base. According to Beck, although China Fair “keeps adjusting with people’s wants and needs as the world changes,” central aspects of the business remain the same. Beck continues, saying, “we don’t bend to trends. We’re very consistent with our quality and prices, and we have a great selection of stuff. That’s what makes us unique.”
Chloe Carrano is a Fig City News summer intern and a rising sophomore at Newton South High School.
