This year, Spectrum India — a Thayer Street staple selling a variety of goods from clothing to metaphysical gemstones — celebrated its 59th year of business. But on March 14, the store announced that it would be closing this spring.
Since announcing their closure, Spectrum India has been running a store-wide clearance sale, with merchandise up to 59% off in honor of the store’s 59th anniversary. “We are still celebrating, even though we are closing,” store manager Lisa Paquette said.
Spectrum India was initially set to close April 30. But Paquette said that on Thursday, the store got approval from their landlord to stay open until the end of May.
“It definitely was a big relief,” Paquette said. “After he told me, I actually cried.”
Spectrum India’s closure has been looming, said Paquette, who has been working at the store for 40 years. The addition of parking meters on Thayer Street made it harder for customers to visit, and Paquette said the store saw about a 40% decrease in business when the Washington Bridge closed.
Spectrum India’s business also fell 80% in the aftermath of the Dec. 13 shooting.
The business had to close for a few days during the snowstorms earlier this year. After that, “it kind of just all snowballed for us,” she said. “It was just time to close.”
According to Paquette, paying the high Thayer Street rent was a challenge for Spectrum India’s management. In addition, the street “used to be a nice mix of shopping and restaurants” but is now dominated by restaurants. “It’s not really a destination for people to come to anymore.”
Spectrum India first opened in 1967 and occupied two different locations on Thayer Street before moving to its current spot in 2005, Paquette said.
Kerri Connor, a Rhode Island resident, said that Spectrum India closing “is the saddest thing ever.” Over the past 45 years that Connor has come to Spectrum India, she said the store has largely remained the same — “you can always find what you need.” Connor visits the store around four to five times a year.
“There’s no other store like it,” she said. “I’ll just miss coming in here and finding something special.”
For Dhruv Parikh ’27, some of his favorite items from the store are the ones he received as birthday gifts. He wears them often as “they remind me of my culture, my friends and happy times spent in the store,” he wrote in an email to The Herald.
Parikh added that he was “sad that one of very few stores in Rhode Island that is connected to (his) cultural heritage is closing down,” he wrote. He often found himself stopping by Spectrum India to uplift his spirits. There, “every member of their staff is kind, friendly and empathetic,” he wrote.
In talking with the staff at Spectrum India, Parikh wrote he was able to learn about the “inner workings and history of Rhode Island, Providence and Thayer Street from the perspective of R.I. natives.”
“Besides the fact that the store is my home away from home, I am sad that a piece of Providence’s history is being lost,” Parikh wrote, adding that the store is part of a “unique ecosystem of vendors on Thayer Street.”
Business turnover is not new to Thayer Street.
“Spectrum India isn’t the first longstanding small business on Thayer to close, and it is concerning how quickly unique small businesses are being replaced by fast food or major retail outlets,” Parikh wrote.
Although Talia Udelman ’28 has only been to Spectrum India twice, she appreciates the store’s colorfulness and “very distinctive” smell. It’s “just sad that a small business is closing,” she said.
Sophie Dang, a student at the Wheeler School, has been coming to the store since middle school. She used to visit after theater rehearsals with her friends. “There’s not a lot of stores like this in the Providence area,” she said, adding that she enjoys the store’s unique energy.
Paquette and Jagdish Sachdev, the store’s 92-year-old owner, are considering opening a new location for the store. She said the new store would sell metaphysical items including incense, candles, crystals and sage — inventory that is reminiscent of the “old Spectrum India.”
“It’s probably time for me to start fresh,” Paquette said. And (Sachdev) is gonna be my right hand man.”
Pavani Durbhakula is a senior staff writer and photographer. She is a first-year from DC and plans to study IAPA and Public Health. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and searching for new coffee shops.
