On the busy 4th Street corridor stands The Hangout, a one-stop shop offering anything from housewares to books that quite literally invites its patrons to ”hang out.”
The collective, made up of various small businesses running inside a small business, occupies a 4,000 square foot 1920s brick building that tops off shopping with a small wine and beer market and garden.
“The thing that is really beneficial for the business and for our shoppers here is you don’t have to go to 10 different stores, you can literally come to one place and you can have a glass of wine after [shopping] is done,” shop founder Melissa Carpenter said.
The inviting scent of its own Hangout candle draws patrons into the sprawling shop and greets them with a large table of holiday offerings, like green and white ceramic candle holders and Finchberry’s Meadow bath soak.
The front left portion of the store allows patrons to browse through Jhoanna Belfer’s book selection at Bel Canto Books, located inside The Hangout. To the right they can soak in a vast selection of plants.
Delve deeper into the store and there’s a dried flower station by The Golden Garden (Tanya Bartels), vintage home finds, artisanal ceramic mugs, a record station, and even baby clothes.
Each section feels homey, like small rooms in an apartment with a southwestern aesthetic—waiting to be perused for clothes and accessories or lounged in with a crate of records.
“The concept for this space came together from accumulating thoughts, ideas and things that I did when I was in fashion,” Carpenter said, noting her journey in retail started with children’s clothes in 2014.
Carpenter had previously worked as a clothing designer for over 20 years with brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Eddie Bauer and Roxy.
Accustomed to being around a group of creatives, Carpenter opened The Hangout in 2017 and with the ability to expand into its current space, merged the shop with her children’s clothing store in 2018.
Coming from a fast-paced corporate job, Carpenter was ready to connect to the community when she opened The Hangout, giving way to the collective concept of the store.
“The path I wanted to have was to create a platform for people who were either transitioning from one life to another or were starting out,” Carpenter said of the community of vendors at The Hangout.
A lot of the offerings at the shop come from local Long Beach vendors, like Cinply Essentials, whose handcrafted Rose Gold body elixir is in stock at the shop, as well as vendors from LA and San Diego, while others are International Fair Trade items.
On a particularly rainy afternoon, patrons talked and lingered by an aromatic area of the store that carries Commonwealth Provisions candles and incense—the incense cones being the most popular item at the shop.
“I’ve done 15 reorders this year,” Carpenter said, noting that they’re a customer favorite because they bring relaxation.
And relaxation is what patrons have been seeking since the beginning of the pandemic, Carpenter said, adding that since COVID-19 didn’t allow people to see friends or go to music events, some turned to shopping.
According to Carpenter, the community hunkered down at the shop in the last year and has treated it as a safe space.
“Because the space is so big, we were able to create this little retreat where people could just walk here. We created a destination and it has brought so much community support,” the shop’s founder said.
One of the areas patrons can lounge in is the dimly lit Hangout Market—which opened five months ago in the back of the store—fully equipped with a selection of tea, wine, beer and snacks.
A cup of Le Reveur Rose can be had in the Golden Garden, and savory appetizers like the calamari fritti can be ordered for delivery from the Italian restaurant La Tarantella next door.
For Carpenter, the market area of the shop was meant to be—eventually. The building was once home to a grocery store, so Carpenter said she knew the area was meant for feeding and socializing.
The Hangout is ever-changing, something Carpenter takes pride in. At one point the store boasted a barbershop, which has now moved to its own location, and a leather maker, who now has his own private studio.
Carpenter said she loves the ability to be creative with the shop and offer patrons a new experience over time.
“It feels fantastic,” Carpenter said of The Hangout’s evolution since 2018. “But I’m never satisfied, I’ll never be satisfied so it’s where I go from here, it’s about where I go forward from here.”
The Hangout is located at 2122 E 4th St. For more information follow them on Instagram @_thehangout or visit their website shopthehangout.com.
