In the eyes of many, the only good business is a small business, a store that is self owned and self preserved. Orange County has many of these businesses with plenty of spaces for these stores to serve the community. Many of these businesses are unique to themselves and similar stores.
A business does not always mean a storefront; some people rely on vending at events or shows to make a profit off their work. The Zinefest, the Punk Rock Market in downtown Santa Ana, local farmers markets and the Fourth Street Market are only a few of the ways vendors can apply to sell.
Patch and zine vendor for Zobugs, Zoe Bautista makes one-of-a-kind, screen-printed patches featuring artist created images. She also makes zines, miniature handmade magazines. She shares her experience when she started vending.
“I didn’t really know, like, what kind of events I wanted to do. But now that I’ve been doing it for a few years, I know what kind of shows I like to do now,” Bautista said.
An important part for any business is knowing what products both your current and potential customers are looking for which was something Bautista figured out through vending experience.
“As I started selling my stuff, I was able to find like, what sort of products people like more, and patches was one of them,” Bautista said.
While Bautista sells her products though setting up tables at events, another way is by setting up a storefront, which for most is one of the main factors of owning a business; it’s how you sell your inventory. The owner and one of the founders for record and skateboard shop Programme Skate & Sound, Chris Gronowski, talks about the early days of Programme.
“When you start, you know, you do things like, oh, you get your floors ready, and you paint the walls, and you get product in, you get racks in place,” Gronowski said. “But you’re always kind of changing.”
After co-founding Programme in the spring of 2011, Gronowski is in the long haul for the business, and similarly to many store owners, has seen just how much their store has changed since the beginning.
“That little work in the beginning is really not as much as like, the continuous work you’re still doing even today, 14 years later, we’re still always changing things,” Gronowski said.
Head founder of Santa Ana’s only bookstore, LibroMobile, Sarah Rafael Garcia talks about the struggles of LibroMobile and how the business began.
“I started finding a way to sell books or give away books in our community. That’s how LibroMobile started and that’s why it’s called LibroMobile, because at the time we didn’t have a location,” Garcia said. “We didn’t have a location for the first few years of our existence.”
Garcia also reflects on the fact that many people have assumptions about the profit that LibroMobile makes. She used past experiences that the store had at events and regular days to prove how financially unsustainable the business can be.
“I don’t think people realize that, they think we make the full profit of the book, but that’s not the case,” Garcia said. “So even when we say we sold $4,000 worth of new books, we only made $1,000.”
Many large companies’ products come from said companies that are self owned factories or distributors, which is a privilege that most small businesses don’t get, Programme is one of those companies that order from outside distributors.
“We just order directly from distributors. So for vinyl, we’re generally ordering either directly from a record label or the distributor of the record label,” Gronowski said. “and the same then, skateboard companies, you’re ordering directly from the company itself.”
Many companies and stores often order products from outside distributors. LibroMobile orders books from publishers; Programme orders skating equipment, vinyl, and apparel from bands and brands. However most vendors like Bautista make and sell her products while also managing to work around her full-time job.
“I teach art to artists with disabilities, I do screen printing and I do book painting at the studio I work at,” Bautista said. “So I spend a lot of my time, like teaching, but then also working on, like, my patches and then my zines and like prints and stuff on the side.”
Unfortunately, many small businesses are subjugated to struggling; LibroMobile is only one of many that is struggling with profits and time.
“I hope we stay open right now. I just estimated, based on, you know, recent sales, that we will make it to August for sure. But I hope we make it for another 10 years,” Garcia said. “We’ve been open for nine years now; unless more people come and buy books at the bookstore, I don’t see us making it through next year.”
The grip of the economy and profits on a business can only get stronger, and unless we as a community can support our local small businesses, we could soon see our community become more watered down as the days go by.
The stories and information that Gronowski, Bautista and Garcia shared reveal the creativity that these business owners have hidden in their mind. By shopping and supporting local small businesses we play a role in keeping our community special.
To learn more about Gronkowski’s business, visit Programme Skate and Sound
To learn more about Garcia’s Business, visit LibroMobile
To learn more about Bautista’s Business, visit Zobugs.arts (Etsy page)
