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MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2009
Volume 8 Issue 100
Santa Monica Daily Press
FEED THE KITTY SEE PAGE 7
Talk of the town
THE TAKING STEPS ISSUE
Shops finding more shoes to repair BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
OCEAN PARK BLVD While the recession has taken a toll on merchants across the city, business has curiously picked up at Alfred Medina’s small shop. Little has changed at Maya Shoe Repair where Medina continues on with work as usual, fixing soles and broken heels, and trying to make the customers’ footwear appear like brand new, just as he has for the past 39 years. Yet in a time when nearly every commercial sector is feeling the economic pain, from retailers to auto dealerships to hotels, the downturn has somehow managed to be good to Medina’s business. He has experienced a 30 percent increase in orders to be specific. “I think it’s because the new shoes can be expensive,” Medina said recently. “Good shoes are at least $250 to $300.” It’s a story shared by more than one shoe repair shop and even tailors across the city, finding that when the times get tough, many will bring out the old before adding the new. Elias Custom Tailor on 11th Street has noticed a similar trend over the past few months, seeing customers bringing in fewer new and more aged suits and dresses. Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
SEE REPAIR PAGE 6
BOOTS MADE FOR FIXING: Alfredo Medina works on a pair of cowboy boots at the Maya Shoe Repair shop on Wednesday afternoon.
COMMUNITYPROFILES BRIAN KEST
Bringing yoga back to the planet Earth BY TEDDY LESHNICK Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN Modern yoga comes with a lot of baggage and stereotypes. Some people think yoga involves the metaphysical, chanting, incense, ambient music, pretentious yogi hippies or yogi yuppies and outrageous pricing for instruction. Forget everything you think you know about yoga when talking to Bryan Kest. Kest moved to Santa Monica over 25 years ago and has been teaching yoga ever since. He opened up the first donation-based yoga studio in the United States 14 years ago above the RadioShack on Sixth Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. A lot of other yoga studios, some who charge $20 per class, thought that Kest could only could keep his studio
Gary Limjap
running because he had minuscule expenses with a small upstairs space, he said. “They were saying he’s in some dungeon above radio shack,” Kest said. “They we’re getting defensive even though I never said anything about them.” Four years ago, Kest opened another space on Second Street that has the most expensive rent for a yoga studio in Santa Monica, he said while cracking his knuckles. Kest wanted to prove to the yoga community and the world that a large studio with significant expenses could run solely on donations. “If we look out for [students], then the universe will naturally look out for us,” Kest said. Kest originally opened up a donation-based studio SEE CP PAGE 8
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(310) 586-0339
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Monica Boulevard yoga studio on Friday morning.
TAXES ALL FORMS, ALL TYPES, ALL STATES
BACK TAXES • BOOKKEEPING • SMALL BUSINESS
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Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
STRIKE A POSE: Yoga instructor Brian Kest at his Santa
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