By Vanessa Lantos Daly (Spicy Melon)
Feb. 10, 2025 – It’s no secret that the pandemic and rising rent costs wiped out many small businesses on Broughton Street—including The District Café and Eatery, which posted for the last time on May 23, 2020, announcing its sad departure.
That corner was home to the little café for nine years. I fondly remember sipping spiced hot apple ciders while strolling through the streets and squares in the winter.
But something exciting is coming to that corner soon. I sat down with a very cheerful (and highly caffeinated) Ben Chaffee to chat about the new store opening at 202 East Broughton Street: Pangea. He and his partner, Alex Zinn, are bringing this project to Savannah after a decade in the making.
Ben and Alex have been semi-residents of Savannah since 2011, splitting their time between here and Taipei. For years, they lived a fully nomadic lifestyle, traveling up to nine months out of the year, collecting treasures in the form of jewelry, handcrafted art, and unique artifacts—all while always circling back to Savannah.
Their journey started with teaching English abroad, traveling to different parts of Asia, and picking up handmade jewelry and artisan pieces along the way. They’d ship their finds back to Savannah and, when stateside, sell them at music festivals—at first, just spread out on a blanket with friends. But the demand kept growing, and so did their collection. Over time, they built personal relationships with artisans worldwide, visiting them year after year.
Without realizing it, they were also conducting a natural market study—seeing what resonated with buyers and adjusting their approach accordingly. That organic growth led to the store they’re about to open.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, they settled in Savannah a bit more permanently.
Curious about the name, I asked Ben about its origins. He shared, “For a while, we called our business Cross Cultural Creations, and then we called it Culture-Cross to try to capture the fact that we are really working with many different cultures and representing many cultures from around the world. Then we started adding components like plants, gemstones, and crystals, so we chose the name Pangea because it really encompasses the whole world being one. I think that is especially important now, with where the world is at—to embrace oneness and togetherness.”
He continues, “I think the store really captures that really well: We will have so many different things from around the world and also feature so many elements with natural wood furniture, fossils, gemstones, and plants.”
The store sounds incredibly intriguing. Ben shares that the focus will be “arts and crafts from different parts of the world, with a focus mostly on jewelry. We will also have some of the handmade furniture we’ve been making in-store for sale.”
At the mention of handmade furniture, my curiosity piqued. He excitedly shared, “We’ve been working with Cyrus Bacon, who is a local artist. He works with raw live-edge wood. So we’ve been making lots of furniture, and the furniture is mostly amazing displays for the store, but we are also going to offer them up for sale.”
I asked if they were working with other local artists, and he continued, “Yes! Josh Taft has been working a lot with building out the space, and also Lor, so it has been a collective effort to make it all happen.”
I listened in awe as he reflected, “It’s almost like we started two new businesses at the same time. There is Pangea, which is the retail store, and there is also this furniture collective, which is very new. We will see how that does, but for now, it is just really amazing displays for the store.”
He’s not wrong—at first glance, the displays look intricate and beautiful.
By the way, these guys have been living my DREAM LIFE—exploring the world for treasures, traveling everywhere, selling them, and continuing their adventures.
Curious about the prime choice of location, I asked Ben how they landed on this particular spot. He admitted that finding the perfect storefront hadn’t been easy. “We’ve been looking for space for a while. We were very hesitant about a lot of the spaces we saw while searching in Savannah. Then we looked at this space. What really caught my eye was the tile floors. They are very antique, with really old brick, and it just reminded me of so many places we’ve visited around the world—historical places in Europe and India. It really has a lot of character to it. When I saw these floors, I had an immediate emotional reaction and knew this was the place where we needed to be.”
Ben also shared his appreciation for and fascination with the landlord. “We met the landlord, Art Lamas. We all got along, so we decided to move forward with it. He is this really amazing 93-year-old Greek man, and he acts and moves like he’s in his 70s. He has such a strong connection to the building—he’s a third-generation owner, and it has been passed down in his family. His family’s name is on the side of the building. They immigrated from Greece in the late 1800s, started a shoe-shining business, and eventually bought some buildings on Broughton Street. The floors in that building are the original floors his grandfather put in. He told me, ‘You can do anything to the space, but you can’t touch the floors.’ Which is funny because the floors are what I love the most.”
Ben also reflected on how their success has allowed them to open a permanent location in Savannah. He shared three qualities that have brought them to where they are today.
First, it’s their products: “Because of the places we visit, we find such unusual, interesting products that our customers and people who follow us know they will find something very special. They come to find us year after year at music festivals because they know they’ll discover something unique and unexpected.”
Second, their displays: “We put a lot of effort into building a display that is really over the top. This is the part of the business that I am personally most excited about and love the most—creating something impressive. We get items like big hand-carved masks from Nepal or inlaid teapots from the Tibetan people with gemstones or turquoise. These are elements we wouldn’t be able to sell for a profit because we pay so much for them, and the cost to get them back to the United States is also high. But they really allow us to create an amazing experience for the people walking by.”
Their displays are so captivating that they’re often given prime space at festivals just because of how intricate and beautiful they are. This has played a huge role in their success.
Ben shares that they’ve built displays at Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, and several major Pride festivals and comic conventions across the country.
Third, Ben and Alex are natural networkers and communicators—Ben especially, with his degree in psychology. Both of them taught English in Asia when they first started traveling, which helped them develop strong connections and communication skills.
Those three elements have led Ben and Alex to a level of success that allows them to open a brick-and-mortar location—despite their business being mostly festival-based across the U.S.
“Over the past few years, Broughton Street seems to have shifted toward a lot more corporate businesses, and my feeling with a lot of these places is that they need more life or soul to them. Savannah has so much character, soul, and personality, and we want to bring more of that to Broughton Street.”
I highly recommend a visit when they open! Even if you’re not looking for beautiful and unique gifts, just stop by to be wowed by how stunning this space is shaping up to be.
Their goal is to open in early March. Ben is confident and excited, sharing how grateful he feels: “We have received so much support from so many people who are skilled in woodworking and carpentry. This help came from our friends here, and I also do a lot of community work in Savannah, including a sustainable agriculture nonprofit. Because of this, we have a big network of people who came through for us.”
Ben leaves us with a message for locals who haven’t ventured to Broughton Street in a while: “Broughton Street is part of the heart of our city. We have created something special— a city that brings people from all around the world. Let’s not stop creating special places in our city. So, come say hi, and check out what we are building!”
I’ll share more after the grand opening—with high expectations to be dazzled.
Love always,
Vanessa
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More columns by Vanessa Lantos Daly (Spicy Melon)
