Luna and Luz

“Luna and Luz” (Tess’s daughters’ middle names) is a retail shop, located in the historic Albuquerque Old Town district. Her shop showcases nearly 200 local artisans, including many women-owned and Albuquerque-based businesses. Tess is in the business of invigorating the local economy and making our community rich by supporting vendors and artists who are true makers. She finds purpose through the creation of experiences and cultivation of relationships within the local artist community. Tess’s vision is to take us back to basics – back to the earth, water, sticks and stones; back to the beauty that has stood the test of time.

Tess has always known she had it in her to start her own business. She drew inspiration from her grandmother who was a philanthropist and very active in her community. She later attended college in L.A., and through her experiences there with fashion and design, she was inspired to start her first business that centered around a mobile Airstream retail business. She later opened a brick and mortar store, and then opened her third business, Luna and Luz, in 2021.

Tess has been a WESST client since 2012 when she had her first business idea. Later, as she started Luna and Luz, WESST continued to assist her with sharpening her financial skills, bookkeeping, leasing terms, and marketing. In addition, her WESST consultant connected Tess to a much-needed bookkeeper and other resources for successful commercial leases.