Best gift and kids shop: Gum Tree
Gum Tree owner Lori Ford, right, dazzles Manhattan Beach City Council members Wayne Powell and Mark Burton with one of the store’s quirky gifts at Manhattan’s holiday Small Business Saturday event. Photo Running a brick-and-mortar retailer in the age of prolific online shopping isn’t easy. Gum Tree owner Lori Ford said the key is providing customers items they might not stumble upon themselves in an environment that makes it pleasant to do so. “Anyone can buy anything on Amazon. We’re serving that client who still wants to come in and touch and feel, to come into a curated space that really shows you things,” Ford said. Gum Tree has been stocking gifts for the hard-to-please out of a converted, early 20th century bungalow on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach for the past eight years. In 2016, they expanded to a second location in downtown Manhattan Beach. Gum Tree Kids moved into its Hermosa Pier Avenue digs about three and a half years ago. The original Gum Tree just down the block had stocked some kids items from the beginning. But eventually demand began to outsrip space to store them. The kid store stocks everything from mobiles to infant clothing, and is geared toward baby gifts…
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