Love Local

How Hermosa Beach businesses survived the pandemic. A community that ‘loves local.’ 

By Mindy Ligos Hermosa resident and small business fan 

Feeling the Love 

When Lori Ford and her husband Will opened Gum Tree in November of 2008 in a sprawling old house on Pier Avenue in downtown Hermosa Beach, they had a lofty mission for their fledgling business. Yes, they’d aim to help customers select the perfect gift from their unique array of carefully-curated home goods, decor and toys. But they had grander plans in mind. “From the very beginning, we really wanted to be a lifestyle shop,” says Ford, who now owns two Gum Tree locations. (The second is in Manhattan Beach). 

The Fords envisioned the store as a place where people could grab their morning coffee, browse for a gift, and maybe even attend a community meeting on the inviting patio. 

Looking back at the last 14 years, Ford marvels at how Gum Tree has become even more than their original vision. “Our kids have literally grown up here in the store,” she says, noting that as toddlers, her 15-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son often came to work with the couple and helped greet customers. 

Meanwhile, Ford says, small children who years ago used to beg their parents to stop by the shop for its infamous mini muffins are now teens, coming in to have avocado toast with their friends. Some even work at Gum Tree. “We’ve helped build a sense of community in our little town that we’re really proud of,” she says. “Our customers are our friends, and they meet new friends here, too.” 

Most people are aware of the more tangible benefits of shopping local: Doing so preserves the local economy and is better for the environment, helping to reduce your global footprint. But, as Gum Tree’s story illustrates, buying goods and services from local, independent stores offers other benefits as well, including contributing to a sense of community, offering a unique shopping experience, and even giving residents the chance to meet new friends. Here’s how. 

A Sense of Community 

Ford isn’t the only Hermosa shop owner who works to cultivate a sense of community with her business. Emie Fenton, a longtime Hermosa resident who owns Practical Magic Apothecary, a slightly off-the-beaten path shop on Hermosa Avenue, likes to think of her shop more as an experience than a place that sells herbs, teas and eclectic gifts. 

She purposely chose a spot with an enormous patio and a garage door that rolled up, so the shop could serve as an open-air meeting place for those who wanted to recharge their batteries, indulge in selfcare or chat up a neighbor. 

She often holds events on the patio, such as Tarot card readings or acoustic jam sessions (always taking care to feature locals artists). And, Fenton hosts vendor days, where customers can discover handmade products from local artists and make new friends at the same time. 

“Some customers tell me that they originally stopped by to purchase a gift but caught our vibe and decided to stay a while,” she says. “That’s the biggest compliment I think a store owner can get.” 

A Unique Shopping Experience 

Darren Eichman, owner of Treasure Chest, a popular souvenir shop that sells everything from Hermosa Beach-branded tees to one-of-a-kind collectibles, says even tourists seem like family at the shop that he purchased just under two years ago. The Pier Plaza store, which entices shoppers with a larger-than-life pirate mural above its entrance, has achieved nearly iconic status since it first opened in 1995. 

He says his favorite part of owning the store is having tourists come in and wax nostalgic about how they came into the store as a teen, buying candy and trinkets with the $5 their parents gave them. “Now, they’re back with their own kids, letting them explore, just like they did,” he says. 

Eichman hits upon another key benefit of shopping at smaller, independent retailers: They typically offer merchandise you’d never find at a chain store at the mall. “I consider myself much more of a curator than a buyer,” he says of his role in adding to the store’s ever-changing lineup of merchandise. “I don’t see The Treasure Chest as somewhere you go to shop,” he says. As people explore the aisles, marveling over the unusual collection of magnets, trucker hats and gag gifts, “They aren’t shopping – they’re browsing and communing with their family and friends. 

“My day is better when I feel like I was a great part of someone’s vacation,” Eichman adds. 

Ford, too, prides herself on her ability to find items her customers won’t find anywhere else, and takes buying trips to Paris and Morocco to source new merchandise.

One item the store has become known for is the wide array of seashell-covered Christmas trees it displays during the holiday season, giving the store a winter wonderland atmosphere. The decorative trees are made of plaster and come in a variety of sizes, from four inches tall to over 24 inches. “We have lots of people who buy a new tree every year,” she says. “Instead of just owning a Christmas tree, they now own a forest.”

A Chance to Make Friends

A recent inspiration by Jessica Accamando, president of the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, has given area residents one more reason to shop locally. In December 2020, before she took the helm as the Chamber’s CEO, Accamando had the idea to do a citywide Secret Santa gift exchange project, whereby residents signed up to buy a gift from a local business and deliver it to the doorstep of a neighbor, whose name was randomly assigned to them. Participants were invited to create wish lists of items from their favorite local shops to guide their Secret Santas. 

Accamando expected modest participation for the first exchange, which was held during the heart of the pandemic (residents left the gifts, along with a note, on their neighbors’ doorsteps to foster social distancing), but more than 150 signed up. 

“It really lifted people’s spirits during a rough time,” she says, “and retailers said it really made their holiday season.” Although the suggested spending limit for the gift exchange was $25, store owners reported that shoppers who came in to buy gifts ended up purchasing additional items for themselves.

The exchange was so successful that Accamando has repeated it for other holidays, including Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. 

Ford says the gift exchanges have been a boon to local businesses like hers. Last year, when she signed up to participate herself, she smiled when she saw that the recipient’s wish list read, “anything from Gum Tree.”

Fenton said helping participants in the Chamber-sponsored gift exchanges has been a great way for her to get to know more Hermosa residents as they solicit her help in finding gifts.

During the last holiday season, she says, “I’d ask someone who they were shopping for, and nine or 10 or times it would turn out to be someone I was friends with,” she says. “It was great fun!”

Accamando says businesses don’t just reap the benefits of the exchanges: Residents do, too. “For many, it’s not just about giving or receiving a gift,” she says. “It’s about getting out in the community, exploring new places, and hopefully making a friend or two. That’s really what shopping local is all about.”

Sidebar: By the Numbers

It’s a fact: Shopping at smaller, independent businesses benefits the local economy at a higher rate than shopping at multinational corporations, according to a report by the American Independent Business Alliance. The report revealed that for every $100 spent at a local store, $68 stays in the community, while only $43 filters back into the local economy from chain stores.