On Saturday, Image co-hosted a memorial party for Gender Neutral, the beloved retail store in Echo Park that closed earlier this year. To mark the end of an era, Ashley SP, one of the store's co-owners, wrote the following article, which is also a celebration of what's to come. Interspersed throughout are party photos of all the friends and family who stopped by, captured by none other than Glenjamn.
Putting together the last 11 months was like trying to laugh at a joke I didn't fully understand: painful, embarrassing, and less and less funny every time I tried to explain it. The “so, how are you?” The questions were seriously plastered on the faces of everyone I'd been avoiding since April, when we closed our Gender Neutral Echo Park store after three years. The questions became louder and my voice became weaker. I preferred to be the young(ish) woman who did “cool” things, who was fun, and stuck together enough to turn chaos into chaotic good. She preferred to be “that girl who owned that store” instead of “that girl whose store ended up closing” and who felt like a live wire failing because of it. “I have no idea how I am” became my typical (and honest) sad-girl response to those discouraging questions all spring and summer, until it became too much to let die another day, and I needed to figure out how to be reborn. my business.
Emily and Bella De La Torre
Jonathan Lee, from Firmé Atelier, looking inside Estevan Oriol's car.
Artist Rafa Esparza, left, and Bryan Escareño
My business partner, Jenni Zapata, and I, of course, were not alone in this experience of suddenly and seemingly prematurely closing our doors, as we watched so many small businesses succumb to the shifting sands of traditional Los Angeles retail in 2024. We faced this past January with fresh energy as best we could, existing in survival mode most days and well away from the social spaces we used to frequent. We were not prepared to be vulnerable with others because of the situation we found ourselves in. I can't fake any discomfort (and choose not to), so I started to sneak away.
Our spirits were weary from a tough Christmas season, from watching a few “bad” days turn into weeks and then months. But we were determined to rekindle the magic of the Genre that helped us turn nothing into something during the pandemic, drunk with excitement and wine, replacing the carbonated drinks of our bygone days. The truth is that anything we did in the workshop was not going to be enough to sustain a new future, since many things were out of our control. We couldn't roll the financial dice one more month, let alone the rest of our lease term, or find the latest loophole in an economy not designed for independent small business owners. My bank account knew it, my body knew it, but my heart was breaking. In that store I met people I never wanted to live without; I met a version of myself I never imagined I could be when we opened our doors and I wasn't ready to say goodbye.
Jordan Johnson and Bobby Cabbagestalk
Lupe Rosales and Ashley Alcantar
We were the exception to the retail rule in most of our business, but for reasons that only make sense in retrospect. In late 2023, we would sit on our chat room-style couch at GN, amazed at how many people would come hang out and talk to us in a week, but who wouldn't buy anything, wouldn't even try to buy. Pretend that's what they came to do. What we sold on our shelves mattered less and less to most passing guests; it was the metaphorical space we created for people that kept them coming back. “We witnessed a community that formed organically in our driveway, on our couch, on our bench outside, and on Sunset Boulevard,”[singing in non-English]”and dancing to some of the best DJs on the east side.
How can you put a price on it, let alone pay next season's rent and bills? You can't, we couldn't, so we stopped, although to the surprise of many of our friends and colleagues who didn't have to keep track of what success looked like the way we did.
Maurice Harris, the artist and floral visionary behind Bloom & Plume and the café of the same name, understood this. In August, it closed its nearby cafe, on Temple Street, after five years. “I stayed my way for a long time and it's been a hard pill to swallow,” he told me. “It's hard for all of us to be in the hot seat and realize, 'Oh, I might be the problem here,' and that you're probably going to create that problem a few more times before you learn your lesson. My therapist and I talked about how you don't change until it's painful enough.”
Free Oribhabor, Bobby Cabbagestalk and friend
After closing his coffee shop and as he explores his cult series “Capitalism Doesn't Care About Your Curiosity,” which he self-produces on Instagram, Harris' focus is changing, albeit rooted in authenticity. She has taken her love of flowers to the exploration of aromas, developing candles and fragrances. “I'm giving myself space to be more flexible in the world and do this differently,” he generously shared. You are focusing on the things you have discovered that may be next and new.
As small business owners, we've all taken turns admiring each other in the struggle to be authentic, reinvent, or legitimize the risks we've taken. None of us really know what we're doing, which makes it that much more magical when something “works” and relatable when it doesn't. From a boutique perspective, the kisses of death looked like the ubiquity of fast fashion culture and the now-eternal sales season, low confidence in consumers' attention spans, and the fact that people don't spend money as it did before, as personal purchasing power plummeted. for so many post-pandemic people. Considering the cost of living and operating in Los Angeles, small retailers are becoming islands in a sea of rents that only the largest chains can afford, leaving us all a little cynical and bored, as The “cool” factor is being questioned in more and more neighborhoods. However, if these conversations-turned-therapy sessions with our peers told me anything, it's that death and rebirth can coexist, regardless of how quickly we accept that transformation when faced with it.
Eva Mauro and Estevan Oriol
For me, “switching” has sometimes been like turning on Do Not Disturb on my phone for the past 11 months. Other times, I've chosen to meet with our new business partner, one of my best friends, Danny Jestakom, to talk about the ideas we've been exploring in remixing, recalibrating, and growing GN into a certain afterlife, one with fewer limitations. , or certain freedoms. Getting rid of imposter syndrome when pivoting the business is something I'm still working on, as I tell myself. this now instead of thatand I am a better person for it. Honestly, sometimes I still have a hard time understanding how life is completely different now, until I wake up from my fever dream and remind myself that none of this really matters anyway (Aquarius moon here, y'all).
Jaime Rosas and Anahí Pozos
Last Saturday, we hosted our first event, a party in collaboration with chef Enrique Olvera's Ditroit Taqueria in the Arts District. It was our celebration in memory of the Género Neutral store and a tribute to what is to come with GNLA, Género's big brother, which will continue to collaborate with our favorite brands, people and places in Los Angeles. We came up with the party name, Siempre Juntos, or “Together Forever,” in late summer, long before the votes were cast, before our collective hearts experienced another guaranteed heartbreak. Longing for infinite connection and the opportunity to come together, we wanted nothing more than to create a moment where we could all come together again, as if no time had passed, like the good times, as if nothing had changed even if everything had .
Models April Kosky, left, and Sky Michelle
Carolina Isabel Salazar and Pablo Simental
Jonathan Lee and Eric Kim of Firmé Atelier
Image's general fashion director Keyla Márquez, editorial director Elisa Wouk Almino and editor Julissa James.
I'm completely sure what's next: things are hard, growth isn't linear, I don't know what I'm doing and I do it anyway, much like the approach we had when we created Gender Neutral from scratch. I smile again because of that and because now we have thousands of new friends who will help us get ahead. If GNLA is on the other side, I hope to see you there.
Ashley SP is a writer and co-founder of GNLA, a new multicultural agency rooted in the joyful, inclusive spirit of the Gender Neutral store in Echo Park.
