As they say "All good things must come to and end". My feelings are "All good things must change".
Those of you who are familiar with, not only Dark Delicacies but, the entire "Horror Crawl" here in Burbank, CA understand what a great thing happened to this stretch of Magnolia Blvd a decade ago. For me, it is reminiscent of several decades ago when the strip of Melrose Avenue in Los Angels between La Brea and Fairfax rose up with cool shops of very niche type stuff. The heyday lasted about ten years and was so popular in fact that there was a magazine in the Far East called Melrose about all the happenings and shops on the street.
But, alas, all good things come to an end or at least a change. Melrose is no longer the super cool strip. Like Sunset Blvd and the Santa Monica area before it, landlords saw how popular the area was and raised rents. This led to overbuilding to be able to have more spaces to lease which, in turn, caused parking problems and eventually the cool places were crowded out, high-leased out and the people turned stopped turning out.
Here on Magnolia Avenue the Magnolia Park area of Burbank has risen up to become a Horror Lover's dream recognized around the world - Dark Delicacies, Mystic Museum/Bearded Lady, Creature Features, Blast from the Past, Motion Picture FX, Geeky Teas, Black Cat comics and others plus a slew of Gothic and retro stores including Pinup Girls and Hilary's Vanity. It has hit it's peak. Landlords and corporations are getting the idea that the thriving area created by the merchants is theirs to plunder and take excessive profits from, as if the store owners did all the work so that they could give their living to the corporations and landlords. Now the shift has started and the exodus begins. It will take a couple of year's but trust me it will happen.
The Crooked Path (a spiritual, occult and alchemy store) probably won't last through it's landlord shift and lease renewal. Creature Features leaves the Blvd the end of March as opposed to resigning what would probably be a substantially higher lease agreement. However, they plan on still doing pop-up events and being on-line. That's nice but not the same as having their physical presence. The hunting, forging and tactile experience the collector store offered is unmatched.
Collector areas cannot be created. They have been trying with mediocre results to create a hipsville area in the NOHO district of North Hollywood for years. Only the restaurants and bars endure. The unique retail has not rooted. A real area of this type must grow up organically from demand by the customer and foresight by the mom and pop retailers willing to invest everything they have on a chance. I fear that for Burbank's Magnolia Blvd area a few loose rocks may be signalling the beginning of an avalanche. I hope I'm proven wrong. It may not be the end. But if nothing else, a change is coming.
Those of you who are familiar with, not only Dark Delicacies but, the entire "Horror Crawl" here in Burbank, CA understand what a great thing happened to this stretch of Magnolia Blvd a decade ago. For me, it is reminiscent of several decades ago when the strip of Melrose Avenue in Los Angels between La Brea and Fairfax rose up with cool shops of very niche type stuff. The heyday lasted about ten years and was so popular in fact that there was a magazine in the Far East called Melrose about all the happenings and shops on the street.
But, alas, all good things come to an end or at least a change. Melrose is no longer the super cool strip. Like Sunset Blvd and the Santa Monica area before it, landlords saw how popular the area was and raised rents. This led to overbuilding to be able to have more spaces to lease which, in turn, caused parking problems and eventually the cool places were crowded out, high-leased out and the people turned stopped turning out.
Here on Magnolia Avenue the Magnolia Park area of Burbank has risen up to become a Horror Lover's dream recognized around the world - Dark Delicacies, Mystic Museum/Bearded Lady, Creature Features, Blast from the Past, Motion Picture FX, Geeky Teas, Black Cat comics and others plus a slew of Gothic and retro stores including Pinup Girls and Hilary's Vanity. It has hit it's peak. Landlords and corporations are getting the idea that the thriving area created by the merchants is theirs to plunder and take excessive profits from, as if the store owners did all the work so that they could give their living to the corporations and landlords. Now the shift has started and the exodus begins. It will take a couple of year's but trust me it will happen.
The Crooked Path (a spiritual, occult and alchemy store) probably won't last through it's landlord shift and lease renewal. Creature Features leaves the Blvd the end of March as opposed to resigning what would probably be a substantially higher lease agreement. However, they plan on still doing pop-up events and being on-line. That's nice but not the same as having their physical presence. The hunting, forging and tactile experience the collector store offered is unmatched.
Collector areas cannot be created. They have been trying with mediocre results to create a hipsville area in the NOHO district of North Hollywood for years. Only the restaurants and bars endure. The unique retail has not rooted. A real area of this type must grow up organically from demand by the customer and foresight by the mom and pop retailers willing to invest everything they have on a chance. I fear that for Burbank's Magnolia Blvd area a few loose rocks may be signalling the beginning of an avalanche. I hope I'm proven wrong. It may not be the end. But if nothing else, a change is coming.
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