African textiles have been hard to come by for some, as one of the largest distributors in the area had to close its doors during the pandemic. But now, Holland Textiles in Melrose is back in business.

Holland sells materials that you can buy as is, or even meet with a designer to make it what you want. But the company, which says it's the leading textile provider in the country, has lost more than $500,000 in sales over the past few months.

But those who shopped at Holland before the pandemic have been excited to get back inside.

A manager says while they were shut down, they never laid anyone off. Now that they're back, extra safety precautions are in place, from daily sanitizing to requiring masks.

During the pandemic, the material in the store was used to make masks. The founder of Tembo NYC shops at Holland and worked with them to donate a mask for each one sold.