When Anthony Diaz and Kevin Alcaraz started selling plants out of their garage during the pandemic, they had no clue it would turn into a beloved brick and mortar business, or that two years later they would have to move to a second, larger location.
Just three months after moving into their new location on 4th Street, the self proclaimed “plant daddies” are expanding again. The Plantiitas Market—located at the former Plantiitas shop in Belmont Heights—will house over 20 local vendors belonging to various underrepresented communities beginning Thursday, August 11.
“We’re trying to share our platform with them basically,” said Plantiitas co-owner Anthony Diaz. “We know it’s hard to start a business. There’s so much that goes into it that even we didn’t realize when we were getting started.”
Diaz said the plan for a marketplace location had been “in the back of our minds” for almost a year.
During this process, Diaz said he and Alcaraz have been paying the leases on both locations, along with the added fees and labor to turn the old storefront into a community-friendly layout.
The need for a space like this became apparent, Diaz said, shortly after they moved into their new location. Plantiitas had built a relationship with many LGBTQ and Latinx vendors and residents on the corner of Termino Avenue and 4th Street through events and pop-ups outside of their shop, and they weren’t ready to let it go.
He explained that it took months for them to start seeing LGBTQ and people of color become regular patrons of the shops on 4th Street.
“We poured so much time, effort and money for that space that we thought it would be wise for us to continue building and growing because we’ve had a successful shop this whole time,” Diaz said. “We were built on that corner essentially.”
The marketplace will provide a permanent location to LGBTQ+, immigrant, disabled and other minority-owned vendors, in the first collaboration of its kind in Long Beach. In the coming months, the space will also be used by participating vendors to hold workshops, events, one-on-one meetings with clients and to collaborate on projects with each other.
Diaz said that the idea of creating a space for people “that are queer, people of color that are immigrants” is what has been keeping him and his husband motivated during this process.
“There’s so many intersectional barriers and challenges and a lot of people like us I don’t think feel seen on Retro Row right now. So I think things like that keep us motivated to know there are people who are being inspired, people whose businesses are being changed for the better,” Diaz said, holding back tears. “There’s a lot of people who are being touched by what we’re doing. And that keeps us going.”
Over 20 vendors, many of which had worked with Plantiitas before, met at the shop on July 14 for an open house to discuss plans for the marketplace. A handful more attended a makeup meeting on July 20. A mission for the location was laid out and plans for collaboration were quickly made among vendors.
“So my husband and I have been—we’re exhausted and we’re really tired. It feels like we haven’t had a day off in quite some time,” Diaz said. “As a matter of fact, we haven’t and we’re having to balance all of the work and the demands that we have coming our way, while still kind of maintaining our mental, physical and emotional health. And it’s a lot it’s a lot to juggle. It’s not easy.”
Beau Beatrix attended the July 14 meeting. The queer, transgender, Black and Filipino, neurodivergent and disabled artist has been making and selling jewelry since he was in middle school. After an injury at work left him disabled, Beatrix’s already immunocompromised system was in even worse shape, leaving him unable to leave his home for over a year unless for doctor appointments.
Beatrix started Owie Artwork out of his pain, a hypoallergenic and size-inclusive jewelry business for people like him who are often unable to find accessories that don’t irritate their skin. He draws inspiration from “the darkness of my disease” and channels it into his pieces, such as heart-shaped earrings named “Tachy” for tachycardia and a “Dizzy” necklace, named after one of his symptoms due to medication—dizziness.
“I started making my own jewelry and then made things to give to my partner,” Beatrix said. “And then at some point, something clicked and I was like I could sell this kind of thing. I could maybe find a way to support myself.”
He met Diaz and Alcaraz at Queer Mercado, an LGBTQ pop-up held at the Hilda L. Solis Learning Academy on the third Saturday of each month. Seven months and multiple pop-ups later, Beatrix is one of the 20-plus vendors who will get a chance at a brick-and-mortar location through the Plantiitas Market.
“I never expected to have physical space,” Beatrix said. “There’s something really special about a collective of artists being given equal footing, and a physical location to sell things. In theory, if it was successful, I feel like other spaces could follow the same model.”
Before starting Owie Artwork, Beatrix was a leader for a children’s camp, working with neurodivergent children for five years. He had a dream of being a leader in the LGBTQ community, one he put on hold after his illness made it nearly impossible to imagine.
“It’s not something I let float in my mind very much because, you know, a little hope happens and then I remember that I’m mentally and physically disabled and things like that,” Beatrix said. “It would be difficult to even find a space to hold that kind of thing. But Plantiitas has created this safe space that they’ll let us reserve for free, and that already breaks down a lot of the barriers that I would experience in pursuing that kind of thing.”
To apply to be a vendor at the Plantiitas marketplace, fill out the form on their website.
Plantiitas Market hours will be Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On Saturday, August 13 there will be an all-day block party involving the Plantiitas Market and surrounding shops.
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