“Is that a Lazy Susan?” Why yes it is, but She Ain’t Lazy!” That’s what we say at local markets and festivals where we sell our unique handcrafted lazy Susans and serving trays.
“Who doesn’t like a lazy Susan?”
Tribe Gypsy is a local family owned business from Shreveport, Louisiana. The tribe is made up of our family: Ernie, Marsha, Hailey, Shelby, and Josh Lewis. When you mix our Native American heritage, a little mover and shaker attitude, and the spirit of our “Chief” Papa, you get Tribe Gypsy. Everyone in our family has a part in making the trays we sell. So we came up with Tribe Gypsy for our business name. Tribe is for our family’s Indian heritage and Gypsy is from Shelby’s nickname Papa gave her, Gypsy Girl.
Tribe Gypsy started one day in our living room, which we like to call it our “Board Room.” It is where coffee and topics are always hot and plans are always made. We were all thinking about Papa, who recently passed away in 2015. We reminisced about some of the things he had built and some of his funny Indian stories. We wanted to do something to keep his love of wood working going. After a lot of brainstorming ideas over coffee talks, it started with a serving tray. Before we knew it, we were actually making lazy Susans and serving trays. So we signed up for the Provenance Farmer’s Market, loaded up the car with our gypsy curtains, lights, and a tent, and it all went from there.
What started as a way to channel the chief “Papa” has led to a crazy, fun, family business. You never know what you can make in your garage. Some of the greatest rock bands started out in garages, so why not us? Like rock band jam sessions, our jam sessions are sanders buzzing, saws humming, and paint flying. Our handcrafted serving trays and lazy Susans come in a variety of colors and sizes. The trays add the perfect touch to parties, entertaining, and centerpieces. They are also great for gifts and home décor. When someone purchases a tray from us, we say they “joined the tribe,” and each tray has a wood burned teepee on the back.
Our inspiration is from our grandparents, Walter and Twyanna Wallace Jr. or better known as “Papa & MeMe.” Walter was a master craftsman who owned his local cabinet shop, Quality Cabinets, for over 50+ years. He built custom cabinets and furniture in local churches, homes, restaurants, banks, and downtown office buildings in the Shreveport/Bossier City area. Our MeMe, Twyanna Sue, owned her local quilt shop, Victorian Rose, for fifteen years. MeMe hand-paints each American Flag serving tray we make. She is our real life Susan, but she ain’t lazy! We have a vintage picture of her with our catchphrase as funny conversation starters at shows. Everyone would always ask “Is that a lazy Susan?” So now the picture is displayed on the trays for fun.
Now, you can say we are real traveling gypsies. Tribe Gypsy has been featured at local events, festivals, and markets, including Les Boutiques de Noel, Provenance Farmer’s Market, Crawfest, Texas Avenue Maker’s Fair, and Vintage Market Days in Texas. We say follow the smoke signals on our social media to find where the teepee will be next. Come meet our family and join the Tribe!
Written by: Marsha white
Photo Credit: Jo Claire Robertson