Retailer handling change

Interesting post by The Eastsider's Jesus Sanchez on how the owner of an Echo Park furniture store must deal not only with a tough economy but with changing demographics.

When the Stone family opened up their Echo Park furniture store in the 1940s, most of the clientele was Jewish. By the 1960s, however, Latinos has begun to patronize the large Stone Bros. outlet on Sunset Boulevard in ever growing numbers. In the 1990s, Stone Bros. changed its name to La Popular, a familiar store name to Los Angeles' Latino immigrants, as the Stones chased after the Spanish-speaking consumer. Today, Neil Stone, the third generation of his family to operate the store, is managing the business through yet another transformation. Not only has business withered as a result of the recession, many of the Latino customers the store had come to depend on have moved away as Echo Park and surrounding neighborhoods have gentrified, Stone said.

That means the store must change its merchandise mix to low-budget versions of Pottery Barn-style sofas and tables. Stone said he might even drop the La Popular brand and revive the Stone Bros. name.

The large, over stuffed sofas and bright and floral upholstery favored my many immigrant families has largely disappeared from the crowded showroom. Instead, there are sleek sofas upholstered in leather and muted shades of green and brown. It's a "loft style" that Stone features in his new advertising circulars and appeals to the increasing number of Anglo customers walking through the door. "Buying habits are different," he said. "Buying tastes are different."