HIGHLAND PARK NEWS/EAGLE ROCK POST • DECEMBER 2006 ...

14 • HIGHLAND PARK NEWS/EAGLE ROCK POST
Lethay Vega Owner Of Girl Foolish
-On The Road
To success
by James de Rin
Lethay Vega is a dynamo of enthusiasm and talent. A driven Latina
business women, homegrown from Highland Park, Franklin High School
and Woodbury College for business. Lethay’s dream was to be a stock
broker in New York. Her goal was to educate the Latino community
about investing. She decided to become a tax expert, a DWP employee
and then a small business owner.
Still young and learning from the hard knocks of the business world
, Lethay recently opened her fi rst boutique store called Girl Foolish. Its
not her fi rst business, her fi rst business was a franchise that gobbled up
nearly all of her $250,000 in real estate equity from when she bought a
house in El Sereno at only 25 years of age!. “It sucked,” she said, “it was my
business school!” “If only I’d opened Girl Foolish years ago she laughs.”
For the last
three years people
came to her house
in Highland Park , it
was so busy and the
clothing product line
was so popular that
it was only a matter
of time before Lethay
took the plunge and
opened her store.
This October she
opened for business.
Her idea was to buy
wholesale clothing
that was trendy in
the workplace and that could be worn in the work place. James, she says
“Let’s face it 5902 Monterey Road is not a high traffi c zone, but it is a respectable
address and it is close to Monterey Hills, Highland Park, South
Pasadena and Eagle Rock.” “And its affordable rent.” “Nestled next to Thai
Fantasy, a supermarket and in the Hermon shopping mall, it’s destination
shopping.” “Already she has a cult like following.” “Its funny she says one
day I decided to start a business, the next day I got this idea and here I
am.” “Her store Girl Foolish has vibrant new colors, her clothing line is
extremely popular with trendy urban professional women who need to
look sharp and her prices can’t be beat.”
The main line of clothing she sells is called Collective Clothing
its more of the Melrose hip clothing, as well as accessories,
shoes and jewelry. Lethay’s niche is celebrity inspired trends.
What that means is for around $80 Lethay will make women
look like they wear celebrity looking clothing. Lethay
calls it “dare to dream…dare to express yourself…dare to
be…Celebrity inspired trends for every stylish girl. What
I learned from Lethay is that you need a four point
business plan. You need a store to meet the
customers and look professional, you need
a product line that people want to buy,
you need a website presence to market
and spur sales and you need to go on
location into rivers of people who
shop. Lethay travels all over the
East Coast selling her clothing line
on college campuses, and at “Girls
Night Out Shows.” “Around 2,000
women turn up to shop at these events,
which take place at clubs and halls.” “Very much like an
expo,” says Lethay, “it lasts from 5.00pm - 10.00pm at night.” “There are
free drinks for women and its usually sponsored by a drinks company.”
“The girls get a goody bag and they get to shop.”
If Lethay doesn’t end up being a Millionaire or on Oprah or written
up in Business Week I will be really, really surprised. You don’t meet many
people like Lethay in Highland Park. Driven, smart, intelligent and on the
road to success. Beaming with smiles contagious at what she does, this
interview made my day! Brilliant…As I left, I asked Lethay if she would
start a clothing line for Highland Park called Highland Park. “If we do it
like, beach cool ware, Highland Park in Quicksilver writing” she said, “then
it would travel…”
To contact Lethay Vega Girl Foolish
5902 Monterey Road, LA CA 90042
email: girlzfoolish@yahoo.com www.girlfoolish.com
Telephone: Fax: 323-221-2218
Open Noon - 8.00pm
Crop Salon
By: Jennifer Barbosa
Crop, located at 515 North Avenue 64
in Highland Park is a hair salon. If you haven’t
heard about it, it’s because it’s tucked away a
few blocks west of Figueroa and owner, Debbie
Kantner, like many Highland Park store owners,
relies primarily on word of mouth for advertisement.
Having worked as a hairstylist in the
entertainment industry for 6 years, she decided
to open an independent salon last year, launch
an organic, hemp oil based product line, and as
she says, “reach out and meet the community.”
You weren’t raised in California, but
you chose Highland Park as the place to buy
your fi rst home and open your fi rst salon.
Why the HP?
I chose Highland Park to live and have
my salon because it feels like home here
and I love the diversity and creative energy I
feel in HP. I love Los Angeles, and HP is the
reason I fell in love with the area.
It breeds creativity and draws a more
creative, forward thinking, conscious type
crowd. I want to build on that and invite the
community to check out Crop. So what better
reason to live and have my business
in Highland Park?
Why did you name your salon Crop
and choose hemp oil for your products? Are
you a pothead?
(laughs) No, I opened Crop with my best
friend and business partner Laura in Nov. 2005.
I wanted a name that had to do with hair, but
also had a deeper, more holistic feel behind it.
The word “crop” for me sums up what I want
the salon to stand for - eco-friendly, crueltyfree,
and organic. Then I started researching
different ingredients to put in my products
and found that hemp is the ultimate, perfect
crop. Hemp oil is made of 80% essential fatty
Blue Chips
Blue Chips sits hidden in plain sight on
North Figueroa right next to Cinnamon Vegetarian
Restaurant; if you see the mural of The
Virgin on the corner you’re headed in the right
direction; if you see Elvira Records, turn around
you’ve passed it. Until today, I was largely unaware
of the Highland Park neighborhood. For
Anglos it’s the kind of place you go to because
someone told you there was a good Mexican
food place there; the kind of area where you
can feel good about your high school Spanish
because you can translate most of the signage.
Like Broadway downtown next to the Grand
Central Market, it appears to have a thriving
economy and culture that exist in a vista I, as
a middle aged white woman, can know only
vaguely.
Blue Chips itself rests under a non-descript
blue awning. The only streetwise clue that
something different may be going on inside
the store is the wooden bench festooned with
stickers sitting outside. If you walk in, though,
it is apparent that someone has put a lot of
thought, time and effort into the store. Fresh
containers of Sochi tea and pots of Gavina
coffee sit next to the front door. Used books
and magazines are displayed in boxes on
the shelves facing the front window. New
books line the wall to the right; Hispanic
CDs occupy the shelf on the left. Tee shirts
are neatly folded in bins. Art is everywhere.
Large Latin fl avored murals spot the walls as
do framed pictures. A center glass display
case and register dominate the center rear
of the store, moveable racks fi ll in the space
behind the register. The novelty of a working
silk screen machine speaks of the workshops
that take place at Blue Chips.
In this location, Blue Chips is an unexpected
store with an unexpected rather
high end concept: Clothing, visual art, music
and books all by local talent with their
names and/or symbols displayed even more
prominently than the name of the store. In
support of this stable of talent, Blue Chips
hosts a variety of gallery oriented events
and gives over its walls to art. Currently the
walls boast paintings by Germs, Peter Carrillo,
Leo Limon and Omar Ramirez amongst others.
Even the clothes and accessories are works of
art. The Blue Chips tee shirt line is sold for only
one season and then closed out. The Bumble-n-
Bee baby tees are hand cut and hand sewn by
their creator. The stock of green leather handbags
are crafted by Dean. While the craftsmanship
and creativity behind all of the artwork and
acid, the highest
amount of any
other plant.
hemp’s oil so
closely matches
our own skin
lipids, its able to
penetrate and
moisturize the
hair and skin
with amazing
results. Using
hemp seed oil is
a great way to get soft, smooth, hydrated skin
and hair. I have formulated a hemp based hair
oil for chemically processed hair and also for
hair extensions to help with shine and moisture.
So that’s why we decided to use hemp oil
in our products.
Hopefully, the more people understand
the value of hemp, not only for skin and
hair, but for its abundant possibilities, a stronger
concern for the legalization of industrial hemp
can arise.
Are all the products you use biodegradable
or made with organic ingredients?
Yes, all of our products are packaged
in recyclable plastic. .Our business cards are
printed on hemp paper, with soy based ink, and
our oils and scrubs are made of the highest
quality, organic ingredients. We really pride ourselves
in using the best quality oils and herbs
in our products. Most skin care products are
made of man-made, synthetic chemicals that
are harmful to our bodies and the environment.
Yet, there is nothing more benefi cial to the
skin than natural plant essences. Studies have
shown that synthetic, man made ingredients
are skin irritants, allergens and substances that
our bodies do not recognize, process, break
down or eliminate. I am always researching
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local Shooping Section local Shooping Section
clothes are readily apparent,
one has to wonder if a store
sandwiched between a good
but moderately priced restaurant
and a $5.00 store will fi nd
many buyers for twenty-fi ve
dollar tees, purses at more than
a hundred dollars and paintings
in the multiple hundreds. After
all, the vibrant street art and
music and the cutting edge
attire of the neighborhood’s
residents attest to a more readily
affordable populist art that
already exists.
From behind the counter
one of the owners, Karla Lopez,
greets me but doesn’t hover
over my inspection of the store.
She works steadily on organizing
merchandise, occasionally
going to the back to pull more
items. Two years ago Ms. Lopez
and her friend Herbert Gonzalez
opened Blue Chips with the
idea of establishing a foothold
for the artistic community in
Highland Park much as other
artists have done in Silverlake,
Atwater Village and
Eagle Rock. They had not
expected that some twentyfour
months later making the
store a viable entity would
still be so hard. Ms. Lopez
spoke earnestly, articulately
and, at times, with a touch
of frustration at how hard it seems to entice
people to buy the wares of local artists as
opposed to the mass market items found
not far away in the Eagle Rock Target. While
not ready to give up on the challenge, she
wonders if perhaps it should take another
form: A smaller space? A different location?
A more cooperative approach where several
merchants share one space? Maybe a move
to another community altogether?
Ms. Lopez’s quandary encapsulates the
conundrum faced by the owners of many
small businesses based on the arts. How
many artistic communities can thrive within
a certain proximity and how much support
should a neighborhood be expected to lavish
on its artisans? Conversely, how much
loyalty does a business owe to the community
which was the seed ground for its
talent? At the moment Ms. Lopez and Mr.
Gonzalez are still contemplating the evolu-
the latest products
and ingredients.
Some hair products
do require some
chemicals, but I do
my best to avoid the
ones that can be substituted
with natural
or organic ingredients.
When I can’t fi nd
what I’m looking for
in a product, I create
my own.
What services do you offer?
I give free consultations with every service.
My haircuts start at $25 for men and $35
for women. Color starts at $65. I also offer hair
extensions and use genuine hair from India,
applied with keratin glue. Since keratin is what
your hair is made of, it’s really easy and gentle
on your hair.
For the holidays, Crop offers eco-friendly
gift baskets. They also showcase work from
local artists. Currently, paintings by longtime
Highland Park resident, Kris Zaycher, are on
display. .
I have tried almost everything at Crop
because Deb likes to give out samples of her
products. I especially enjoy a hair formula she
mixed for me after I told her the qualities I
was looking for in a conditioner. I’ve tried the
extensions, too, and was pleased with how well
they blended in with my natural hair. The most
important thing, though, is a great haircut, and
that’s what keeps me going back to Crop. Until
Crop moved in, I would drive to the other side
of the city and pay more than $100 for the right
haircut. Now, with Crop, I don’t have to. Neither
do you. Call for an appointment.
(323) 344 – 7038, Deborah@cropsalon.com
The interior walls of Blue Chpis are decorated by local artists. Blue Chips is also the
fi rst place in Highland Park to sell some of the independent publications seen here
- the type of magazines you’d normally have to drive to Silverlake to buy.” photo by:
Kris Zaycher
tion of Blue Chips; it may be that it will not
continue in its present form. The workshop format
is one interesting and hopefully energizing
concept they are introducing. In late November
and early December they will host a silk screening
workshop. The three sessions are very reasonably
priced at $50 for the lot. For $20 per
session there will be a Crochet & Hot Chocolate
with Lindsey Rangel workshop; sessions are
scheduled for December 3, 10 and 17.
Whatever future form Blue Chips may
take, Ms. Lopez and Mr. Gonzalez have made a
concerted and commendable effort. They have
not forsaken their vision when it didn’t turn out
exactly as they fi rst thought; indeed, their efforts
have actually created an ongoing retail work of
art that has changed with the demands of its
environment. I, for one, look forward to seeing
how Blue Chips will continue to evolve. Blue
Chips is located at 5505 Figueroa Street, Highland
Park, CA 90042. For more information, call
323.550.1400 or visit www.bluechipshlp.com
HIGHLAND PARK NEWS/EAGLE ROCK POST • 15
Sugarbutterbex:
DIY Craft Making to Crime Fighting
By: Jennifer Barbosa
Okay, so you open a shop dedicated
to the joy of arts and crafts. You don’t
expect to be chasing a purse bandit down
York Boulevard, but that’s exactly where
Sugarbutterbex’s
owner, Rebecca Quesada,
found herself,
shortly after opening
her store at 5110 York
Blvd in Highland Park.
One night,
a man walked in,
grabbed a purse and
attempted to drive
away. Apparently, he
targeted the shop,
and others like it,
thinking it would be
an easy way to steal
women’s belongings.
Ha! After everyone in
the store took off after
him and Rebecca
narrowly avoided being run over by his
getaway car, they got the license plate
number, and he was charged with assault
and robbery.
Let this be a testament to the
tenacity of a movement among some of
Highland Park’s long time residents and fi rst
time shopkeepers to change the face of
Highland Park. She and her husband, Matt,
took an abandoned shop and turned it into,
as she says, “a place to relax, have fun, and
learn something new.” Initially they considered
opening a bakery because Rebecca
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enjoys baking. That’s why “sugar” and “butter”
are in the name (“Bex” is a nickname).
Matt already works in a restaurant, though,
and the overhead and time demand of
opening a food business are tight. So, she
decided to make Sugarbutterbex a place to
offer classes in sewing,
jewelry making, crafts,
drawing and painting.
They range in
cost from $0 to $25 and
there are special events
throughout the month.
This month, they have
holiday sewing classes
and will be doing a
free gift wrapping
ideas workshop on
December 8th from 6
to 8 pm. There is also a
“Craftmas” bazaar on
Saturday, December
9th from 12 to 8 pm,
featuring handmade
crafts from LA based
artists/designers/crafters. During the event
there will be free kids projects, a slide show,
carolers and a photo booth for holiday
pictures. Also, Sugarbutterbex participates
in the NELA (Northeast Los Angeles)
Second Saturday art walk. The next show is
December 9th and will coincide with other
activities taking place that day in York Village
(York Blvd. between Ave 50 and Ave. 52).
Reservations for all classes are recommended
and you can either pick up a schedule at the
shop or go to www.sugarbutterbex.com for
more info.
Christmas Special!!
Call Now!
323• 258•2726
FAX: 323-258-0071 • 5140 York Blvd., L.A. CA 90042
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