Business & Tech

Hermosa Beach Landmark, The Green Store, Closes Its Doors

The latest convenience store that's graced the corner of 22nd Street and Hermosa Avenue since 1914 will officially close Aug 31.

By Erika Maldonado

A fixture in Hermosa Beach for more than 30 years, The Green Store will close its doors for good Aug. 31. Located at the corner of Hermosa Avenue and 22nd Street, generations of Hermosa Beach residents and beach goers have frequented the convenience store for everything from sunblock to satisfying a sweet tooth.

Slow business and rent exceeding $4,000 is the cause for the closure, said Anna Ko, who runs the store after taking the reins from her parents who still work there. 

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Her parents Yong and Ok ran the store for more than 30 years, providing customers with snacks, light groceries and alcohol. Anna took over once they retired, and after constantly putting in 13 hour days and rent increasing every year, she decided enough was enough. 

Once the store closes, she and her parents plan to travel to Korea to visit family. Anna will work with her cousin at their jewelry store in Santa Monica Place.

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“I don’t know anyone who isn’t sad about this," said Anne Lathrop, Martha’s 22nd St. Grill manager. “It’s a part of history and what makes Hermosa Beach, Hermosa Beach.”

Lathrop says The Green Store, directly across the street from her restaurant, has been there longer than she can remember. Her son, who is now 18, would go there everyday in the summer for ice cream and candy after a day at the beach when he was growing up.

“It was the highlight of our beach trip,” said Hermosa Beach resident Maggie Saks. The recent college graduate said she and friends would go to The Green Store to get Fun Dip candy when they were kids.

According to Chris Ann Miller and Jerry Roberts’ book titled Hermosa Beach, a store opened at that location in 1914 and has been there ever since. 

Anna said the owners are planning to open a deli in its place.

Will you miss The Green Store? What do you think of it closing? Is Hermosa Beach in an era of change?


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