A hidden celebrity in East L.A.

On a very sunny Sunday morning on Sunday, we decided to go and interview our East Los Angeles celebrity. Our celebrities are the people who work in the Brooklyn Hardware Store on Cesar Chavez and Gage Avenues.

We spoke to Alejandra Sanchez, an employee who has worked there for five years and loves her job. We asked her if she will still continue working and she said yes, she enjoys her job.

She doesn’t really know how the hardware store came to be in East L.A., but with some research, the store was established by James Croman in 1947. The storr has been around for a good while now and it’s very valuable to the people in the community.

Sanchez said one accomplishment that she’s achieved while working there is getting to live in East L.A and also to be able to live close to her job. She would make some changes to the store by painting the walls again and also by adding more storage place so the business can be more organized.

A story she shared was that one day there were some teenagers who were asking for supplies they needed for a school market and they ended up stealing some paints. She said she didn’t do nothing because she knew who their parents were. The following day one of the parents came to buy something, and she said she billed her for all the stolen paint and the teenager’s parent was shocked and ever since that day the teenager’s mom hasn’t come back.

She has definitely experienced social crime and problems at the store but also in the community, such as stealing, hearing loud gunshot and fights. Throughout the years working at the store she has noticed many more crimes have been happening, and it is something to worry about.

She said she has seen changes made in East L.A such as more industrial businesses coming. She has also noticed more violence and an uptick in population.

Some changes that she would want to make to help her business is to offer paint so they can paint the walls outside. She would like more attention so they can bring in more customers.

Sanchez would also like to see her street cleaner and wider so it wouldn’t be crowded as much or look bad in general.

The hardware store has been there for a while and she thinks it will stay here longer. She hopes some changes are made by this time.