By Lorrie Baumann
Urban Radish is a little like Cheers, the bar in the television show that ran in its original release from 1982 to 1983 – it’s that place “where everybody knows your name,” says General Manager and Head Buyer MacKenzie Aivazis, who is also the daughter of Owners Michael Aivazis and Keri Johnson. The store in Los Angeles’ Downtown Arts District was designed around the idea that shoppers would be visiting daily rather than weekly. “We designed the store for urbanites,” Aivazis said. “That means that the focus is on the freshness of the ingredients. Our customers are aware that we’re meeting with local farmers several times a week to buy the freshest produce. Customers are aware that when they see produce in our store, they know it was on the farm a day or two ago.”
“Sausages from the meat department have been made that week if not that day,” she continued. “There is a sense of community. I know my customers. I have the same customers who come in every day. I know what’s going on in their lives…. We strive for that. It really is what makes the store special, in my opinion.”
Urban Radish’s neighborhood is in the process of redeveloping from an urban-blighted industrial area into a mixed-use neighborhood with manufacturing, high-occupancy residential and retail uses. Over the next two years, the neighborhood’s population is expected to triple. “Just two blocks after Skid Row ends, you have this really high-end community that’s developing here,” Aivazis said. As a result, the people who’ve moved into the new residential developments tend to be affluent Gen Xers who value transparency about their food sources and prefer fresh locally-sourced food when it’s available. “During lunch, there’s a lot of manufacturing surrounding the store, so we get a very, very hip crew that comes through, all in their 20s and 30s who are very avant-garde, what most people would identify as a hipster. It depends on whether they’re working in the area or actually live here,” Aivazis said. “They’re urban couples and singletons. When they have babies here, they tend to move away, which makes sense because there are not a lot of amenities for children here.”
The redeveloping nature of the neighborhood means that the store is unable to offer its customers free WiFi, since the infrastructure in the area doesn’t allow enough bandwidth for that yet. Despite that, Urban Radish has a customer following who are engaged with each other and with the store, and they’ve made Urban Radish into a local hang-out spot. The store encourages that with a range of high-quality prepared foods as well as weekly live music sessions. It’s a great event, a great time. All the regulars come and we turn on the grill for a full dinner, and we usually have someone come in and sample wine,” Aivazis said. “That speaks to the community that we try to create for people who are our customers and people who are not our customers…. There are peple who are interested in this area and who come down here just to see what’s going on down here. I believe that this area will draw people who are interested in food. Our mission is to inspire that foodie in everybody. Sometimes you just have to put it in front of them.”
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