Much of the talk of the hemorraging of jobs at the N&O has focused on newsroom staff (I’ll especially miss the fine photojournalism of Jason Arthurs), but all parts of the company are hurting. There are a few veterans left that soldier on, however. John (above), is one of them.

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The rear of The Hudson (Wilmington Street side) houses a posh courtyard area. It’s hidden from view unless you look down from upper levels of the recently constructed parking deck or from one of the high rise buildings around it. Barely visible is the blue illumination which covers the rear but no longer the front of the structure.

With all of the new restaurants and bars opening up around Fayetteville, Hargett, and Wilmington Streets, it’s easy to overlook some of the businesses that have been downtown long before the area’s resurgence. One such example is Dechen Collections, a family-run operation on Blake Street in City Market specializing in hand-made goods crafted by Tibetan refugees located in Nepal, India, and Thailand.

The store is run by Dechen Paldon and her husband Karma Tashi, both Tibetan nationals. Operating a business selling hand-made items wasn’t something she decided to do on after moving to the United States, however. Her parents ran a similar store outside the refugee camps in Nepal, and she ran one of her own for 18 years before emigrating to the United States over 10 years ago. They have operated out of City Market for about 8 years.

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