Santee Alley

Santee Alley is a shopping alley within the Fashion District located between Santee Street, Maple Avenue, Olympic Boulevard, and 12^th Street in downtown Los Angeles. In the 1970s, wholesalers from the Fashion District started selling overrun items and were later joined by department stores that brought merchandise to be resold. Overtime, Santee Alley has become a popular destination for shoppers and attracts visitors from everywhere.  

Most of the vendors in Santee Alley are immigrants from different parts of the world such as Latin America, Korea, and the Middle East. Many of them speak Spanish or hire Spanish and English speaking employees to communicate with consumers, who are mainly Latino. Research has shown that flea markets are popular areas for immigrants, who may lack the resources to be employed in the formal sector, to explore informal economic activities and begin their own business. For Latinos, business ownership is also a way to overcome job market discrimination and a strategy for intergenerational mobility. A lack of resources pushes many immigrant minorities to operate their own businesses at home or in flea markets to develop entrepreneurial skills, capital, and experience. This is evident in Santee Alley where many of the shops are “mom and pop” stores that have less than five employees, which may include unpaid family workers. 

The Great American Boycott in 2006 shows the importance of immigrant populations in Santee Alley. This one-day boycott was a protest against the anti-immigration movement and a demand of legalization programs for non-citizens. Santee Alley shops closed down due to a high rate of employees taking part in the demonstration and as an expression of solidarity to emphasize the importance of unauthorized immigrant labor in the country. The shut down of a popular shopping area shows the influence and power that immigrant populations have in the city’s political economy.

Despite having a strong presence in Santee Alley, there is a high turnover rate for immigrant vendors due to competition, high rent, and economic difficulties. The shops in Santee Alley are private property owned by landholders who rent out units to vendors. In 2002, the rent in Santee Alley was about $10 per square foot, which is higher than the $6-$7 rent in downtown Beverly Hills property. In my interviews with several employees, many of them stated that the owner of the business was in the process of closing down the store due to low sales and high rent. A Korean employee stated that her boss pays $3000 each month for a little hat stand at the corner of a store. Apart from high rent, immigrants also face the fear of being deported if they are caught selling counterfeit items and are unauthorized to be in the country.

Overall, Santee Alley represents a dynamic community of small business vendors coming together to make a living. Many of them are pushed into this informal economy due to discrimination, low employment opportunities, and lack of skills. Santee Alley is both a place for immigrants to maintain their livelihood and a place for them to express their political, economic, and social beliefs.

For more information:

"Fashion District." LA Fashion District. N.p., 2010, http://www.fashiondistrict.org, Accessed December 9, 2013. 

Johnson, Hillary. "Shopping Central: the Bargains are Plentiful (and so arethe Shoppers) in Downtown L.A.'s Santee Alley: Home Edition." Los Angeles Times: F.6. 2002. Print.

Nock, Magdalena Barros. "Swap Meets and Socioeconomic Alternatives for Mexican Immigrants: The Case of the San Joaquin Valley." Human Organization 68.3 (2009): 307.

Olivarez-Giles, Nathan, and Mark Medina. "Police Raids Seize Counterfeit Goods; the
Annual Christmas Crackdown Leads to 28 Arrests in Downtown L.A.'s Santee Alley." Los Angeles Times: C.3. 2008. Print.

Tienda, Marta, and Rebeca Raijman. "Immigrants' Pathways to Business Ownership: A Comparative Ethnic Perspective." International Migration Review 34.3 (2000): 682-706.

"Welcome to The Santee Alley." Welcome to The Santee Alley. N.p., n.d. http://www.thesanteealley.com, Accessed December 1, 2013.

Young, Kristin. "Up their Alley: Buyers and Fashion Fiends Alike Head to Downtown L.A..'s
Santee Alley for Cheap Chic." WWD (2002): 52S.