by Peter Bruce
So here is the story behind the Anna Bruce shop on Abbott Kinney in Venice, California… the “smallest shop in LA”
My sister, Anna launched a line of embroidered 100% organic cotton t-shirts, baby clothing, and not-quite-organic hats about two years ago. Her line consists of animal and plant patterns (and even surfer) stitched onto colorful and very soft cotton. She started small, mainly giving her work away as gifts to friends and family – with the occasional sale generated by word of mouth. She soon realized she had something pretty special with more and more people asking to order merchandise. I came on board to help her spread the word and we worked to get her line into shops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Marin County in Northern California.
One day this summer as I was biking along Abbott Kinney Blvd – the main drag in Venice, CA – I happened upon a very small “dollhouse” with a for rent sign in the window. This space was so small I had to bend down to enter and could not stand up inside. The woman renting the little shack has a sculpture garden on the larger property bordering the street complete with grass, mature palm and banana trees and even a small grass-covered amphitheater where people can come and watch bands play and/or aerialists perform during one of the regular shows she puts on.
Being interested in small buildings and the efficient use of space, this structure got me thinking. I realized it would be fairly easy to raise the structure and give it a more recognizable shape as an actual “building.” The shape of the roof-line was a plus that would offer me room to install upper shelves for storage and a place to set up some lighting. The next thing to consider was the actual dimensions of the space – which measure just 5′ x 6′. At the same time, I also looked at this as a fun project that had the potential to be a perfect fit for my sister’s small/emerging line of clothing. It was also a unique opportunity to open a small space on a street in Venice that has become known for expensive boutiques.
I realized it would be a squeeze to make it a fully-functioning shop with a desk for a computer and all that, but I also saw in it the potential for a extremely efficient and fun space. So after a bit of discussion with the property owner, we decided to go ahead and lift the building 3.5 feet and cut a new door on the garden side with a window while enlarging the door opening onto the street. Then it was onto “polishing” up the outside and filling in holes, gaps and spaces in the structure to make it a bit more weather proof and aesthetically pleasing. Then came several coats of paint and a sign I had custom ordered.
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For the inside, I hit Home Depot for plywood and everything else. I cut shelves to size, installing four, at differing heights and locations in the structure. The two longest, lowest ones would be used for displaying merchandise; a smaller one in the opposite corner would hold business cards, my iPhone/credit card machine, a mailing list, etc. An upper shelf would be used for storage and lighting. I also cut and installed two wooden poles lengthwise across the building just a bit above eye-level for the hanging/display of Anna’s embroidered shirts and baby clothes. A finishing touch was throwing down some artificial grass to the make the floor a bit more attractive and the hanging of a curtain under one of the lower shelves to hide additional storage space.
As you can see from the pictures, it is a tight squeeze, but it is also a squeeze that seems to delight all who enter it. Passersby are intrigued and, with large smiles, enter the little space and/or stop to take pictures outside. Not all make purchases, but I am getting a kick out of seeing how happy the shop makes them just based on its small size alone.
Visit the Anna Bruce website here.
