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Las Cruces is home to one of the last locally owned and operated educational supply stores in New Mexico.
For 30 years Alpha Teaching Tools, 1114 E Lohman Ave., has supplied Las Cruces educators with flashcards, books, classroom décor, and more.
What makes Alpha Teaching Tools different from a traditional office supplies store is its specialized selection of educational tools.
While the store does sell supplies usually sold at a big chain office supplier, like pencils and flash cards, it also provides classroom resources. Booklets for a variety of subjects and grades and classroom decorations are a few of the materials provided for educators that are not typically sold at other stores.
Daniel Prez, the owner and operator of Alpha Teaching Tools, talked about how he tries to provide an affordable place to shop that is not a big chain.
“We consider ourselves a mom-and-pop shop, and we do [work for you]. We do go that extra mile, and if we don’t have it, we’ll make it a point to find it. To get it in your hands and make sure you’re taken care of because, over here, our prime objective is to make sure the teachers are taken care of,” Prez said.
Over the years, specialty stores for educators have become less common. Two main factors are responsible for the decline of stores like Alpha Teaching Tool.
One being the rise of online retailers like Amazon., Prez said. An increasing number of educators have opted to do their shopping online due to convenience, rather than shop at a local supplier.
The other major reason was the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many others local stores across the country, the changes brought on by the pandemic forced the majority of the remaining educational supplier stores to shut down, Prez said.
However, despite the pressure Alpha Teaching Tools has kept its doors open for 30 years and maintained a loyal group of costumers, Prez said.
Prez said there are benefits to shopping in person which cannot happen online.
“I think [shoppers] miss the full shopping aspect of it, the touch and feel,” Prez said. “You get to know how big it is. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been a victim of ordering online and it comes in and it’s like a miniature. It’s like nothing of the size of what you thought it was going to be.”
Celina Morales, deputy director of economic development for the City of Las Cruces, told the Bulletin that national data shows that for every $100 spent on a local business, $73 stays in the local economy. She said local businesses recirculate money the money they earn within their local communities by nearly 50% more than national chains.
Online shopping may offer a wide range of items at the lift of a finger; there is no guarantee on the dimensions or quality of an item.
One teacher, Rhonda Newbury, said she enjoys shopping at Alpha Teaching Tools.
“I would recommend it,” Newbury said. “And, of course, with online shopping, you have to wait for it or sometimes it gets lost in the mail, or something like that. Really, it’s just better to come to the store.”
