Single-Focus Shops

San Fernando Valley retailers have learned to sell more than commodities and household staples – in fact, some of them traffic in merchandise that qualifies as quirky. One stalwart of the Valley economy is the single-item shop; that is, a store that revolves around one specific item. These stores fly in the face of those who cite the death of retail in the 21st-century economy. All of these Valley stores are very well established, having been in business for years — even decades — with the oldest being the Rick Stanoff-owned Country General Store at 6279 Van Nuys Blvd. which, for 65 years, has sold nothing but Western wear. “It seems to be kind of the theme,” said the Business Journal’s photographer David Sprague, who noticed the growth of the single-track retailers in the region. “Not only are they super-niche but they’ve been able to make it even in the era of Amazon.” Take, for example, Darts & Things – The Store at 16217 Victory Blvd. The Van Nuys shop only carries darts, dartboards and accessories for enthusiasts of the game. Operating for 36 years, Darts & Things is the only such store in Los Angeles County and the shop, owned by Vickie Williams, remains the last outlet of an erstwhile regional chain, which once had locations in Palmdale, Santa Clarita and Ventura. “My mom’s friend was the original owner,” said Manager Sam Adams, Williams’ son. “My mom ran the Palmdale store. When he passed away, she purchased it (in the mid-2000s).” Among the shop’s clientele are the establishments where one can play the game. “We do deal with bars and quite a few of them,” Adams said, however quickly noting that the bulk of his customers are tournament, league and amateur players. “There’s by far more home players than league players,” Adams added. Then there is Spy Shop of Sherman Oaks at 4499 Van Nuys Blvd. An extension of 1990-founded SpyShopOne.com, Spy Shop is a leading distributor of GPS tracking devices, surveillance and hidden video cameras, radio frequency detectors and phone security. Parviz Haddadizadeh, who runs Spy Shop with wife Monica Izarraras, fell into his line of work when his services were sought out by a mysterious individual while Haddadizadeh was an electronics major at California State University – Long Beach. “He was an undercover officer and he had some equipment,” Haddadizadeh told the Business Journal. “I got his equipment repaired in my garage.” Later, he began making custom devices for private detectives, magicians and entertainers in Las Vegas. Watching nanny-cam footage on TV of an abusive au pair moved Haddadizadeh to innovate miniature products. “I sold the idea to another company and they started making the equipment,” he said. In 2004, Spy Shop was “Bourne,” and as spy tech has become increasingly sophisticated, more average customers — people looking to keep an eye on the help or bust a cheating spouse — come through Spy Shop’s door. So do actual espionage agents shop at Haddadizadeh’s shop? “Plenty,” he said. “Homeland Security. FBI agents, police officers. I can tell the way they ask for stuff.” The Valley’s unilateral retail does not end here. The Magic Apple at 11390 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, which Brent Geris opened in 2003 as “Earth’s Largest Magic Shop,” supplies magicians with tricks, from decks of cards to coins, and provides everything from magic lessons to visits by master illusionists. “Magicians come from all over the world to lecture here,” Geris said. Geris, who runs the only shop devoted to magic in Southern California outside of one at Disneyland, said the playing cards and beginner magic kits sell the best, while he also sells such higher-end items as floating tables and the contraptions in which a person is sawed in half. Geris told the Business Journal that he gets all kinds of customers, from professional illusionists to foot traffic from “people having pizza downstairs. Kind of everybody.” Meanwhile, the Sherman Oaks location of Light Bulbs Unlimited at 14446 Ventura Blvd., run by General Manager Jon Clark, not only sells bulbs galore but offers lamp repair, bulb changing service and holiday lights installation. Shine on!