Gramercy York opens a New Menswear Shop in Culver City Arts District

As Culver City continues to expand and grow into it’s own unique piece of LA, there is a new store on the block: Gramercy York. Walking into Gramercy York gives you the feel like your walking into a general store in the early 1900′s. This 1200 square foot boutique carries some dope curated brands and products such as: Wolverine Boots, Red Wing, Shwood, Jack Spade, Scotch & Soda, Levi’s Vintage Toms, and Canada Goose to name a few. We wanted to sit down with the owner: Henry Ikemiya and see what inspired him to open up shop in the up-and-coming Culver City Arts District.

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Please describe your position at your company/organization/trade

For how many years?

Owner, we’ve been open less than a year!

What made you start your current pursuits?

In high school I worked at Marshall’s, college I worked at Macy’s, so I was always kinda interested in it. I’ve bounced around jobs, but come from a family of entrepreneurs, so having a shop was something I wanted to do.

What drives you to do what you do?

Even though its hard work, owning your own business is just more satisfying and fun. With a boutique, its tough to figure out what your customers might like, but when you get it right, its a nice feeling

How did you overcome your own doubts and the doubts of other people?

Not sure if I really had any doubts, I was just willing to jump into it

What were some bumps you hit to get where you’re at now?

Being that we are in an up and coming area, the foot traffic isn’t quite there yet, so we are still trying to get our name out there slowly. We didn’t want to advertise much in the beginning because we didn’t have much product in the store. Now we are starting to do events and trying to get our name out there.

What is a way you got your name out there?

Its amazing how social media can quickly get your name out there. Instagram I would say has been good. Word of mouth has been great as well, we get customers all the time who say they heard about the shop from someone else.

How do you continue to perfect your craft?

Trying to read magazines, but mostly attending shows. There you see the product in person and get a good idea of what’s good.

What’s some advice you can share for anyone who wants to pursuit what you are doing?

Don’t try to do everything on your own. If you can get help from friends or family, don’t hesitate to ask. Don’t expect people to do things for free however, at least buy them dinner or drinks. I was lucky that I have family and friends who helped me, otherwise it would have been overwhelming.

Gain experience elsewhere. I don’t mean necessarily work in another shop. Just gain life experience and work other jobs. Each place you work at, no matter how different each place is, you’ll learn something that you can take with you.