The Black is closing.<\/p>\n
For OBecians and many other San Diegans, these words need no explanation. But for any reader who does, here is the rundown. The Black is an Ocean Beach store that opened 57 years ago and became a hub of, and symbol for, resistance. As a Target moved in down the street and as real estate prices jerked up, The Black continued to sell the goods that made it increasingly unusual in a changing neighborhood.<\/p>\n
These goods include tobacco and other kinds of smoking paraphernalia, flip-flops, decor, OB T-shirts, salty bumper stickers, Buddha and Ganesha figurines, incense, tie-dye everything.<\/p>\n
No longer.<\/p>\n
Its owner, Kurt Dornbusch, announced this week he is retiring and closing the store. \u201cAfter 57 years in OB, Kurt is officially retiring, closing this chapter with deep gratitude for this community,\u201d the store\u2019s social media post said.<\/p>\n
It was a decision he was mulling over for several years, as suggested by a 2024 report in the Point Loma OB Monthly. \u201cDornbusch, who is about to turn 63, said he\u2019s starting to think about retirement, although he has no successor in mind.\u201d He started working at The Black in his teens and became the owner in 1981, about five years in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking to get it all in order,\u201d he told that reporter. \u201cI still love working here.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday morning, Dornbusch was too busy for an interview or even to answer questions, instead focusing on his customers. A few people had popped in for the first time to see the landmark in person \u2014 and were surprised to hear it will be closing \u2014 but the majority were there to pay homage, shop the 40% off closing sale or stock up.<\/p>\n
Shannon Lamoureux, 48, was standing outside, taking it in before stepping inside. She planned to shop for jewelry, plus a souvenir for a friend. A beanie, perhaps. She was more than a customer. Since 2020, she has been a vendor, making water pipe pokers and roach clips and selling them there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to thank him,\u201d she said, of Dornbusch, whom she called her No. 1 customer. \u201cHe was a big part of my business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lamoureux grew up in San Diego and used to come to The Black with her parents when she was a girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a staple of Ocean Beach, you know? When you think of Ocean Beach, you think of The Black,\u201d she said. The Black, she said, might be even more famous than Ocean Beach itself.<\/p>\n
Inside, the vibe wavered between hope and resignation, or, to invoke The Dead, somewhere between \u201cHang it up and see what tomorrow brings,\u201d and \u201cAlthough the stars have shifted, we\u2019re not lost \/ The westward rolling breeze decides our course.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the shoppers made his own poetry. \u201cEverything comes and goes. Nothing is permanent. Everything changes,\u201d said Jonathan Castro, a 40-year-old artist who goes by the name Juda Lynx. \u201cIt\u2019s time for movement and change on earth, you know?\u201d Amid \u201ccataclysms,\u201d Castro views The Black as one of the \u201cjewels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s peace. It\u2019s welcoming. It\u2019s non-judgment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some shoppers wondered aloud why the store was closing, even if the owner is retiring. Was the lease up? Does Dornbusch rent or own the space? And they wondered what will replace it.<\/p>\n
Castro said he hopes for something \u201cat least at the same frequency, or higher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another man who was buying two Grateful Dead stickers, a longtime Ocean Beach resident who is about as old as The Black and who shared only his first name, Boyd, because he did not want to anger his neighbors with his comments, said he hopes the space will not stay vacant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I don\u2019t want in OB is another dead space that no one rents. Newport is full of those,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rent\u2019s too high on Newport Avenue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeing The Black close is a reminder of how much Ocean Beach has already changed, he added. \u201cWe\u2019re gentrified. When a house costs $5 million, $4 million, $3 million, and everybody drives around in Teslas and flips you off for driving 25 on the street, OB is not the cool OB that it was, even 15 years ago. Let alone 20 years ago. We\u2019ve changed. Money talks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shop\u2019s last day is undetermined. An employee said staff were told it would close in about a month, but as she eyed the 40-something-person line that wove around the racks and shelves, she reconsidered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this rate, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff reporter George Varga contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Black is closing. For OBecians and many other San Diegans, these words need no explanation. But for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[387,181,1969,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-163081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-retail","11":"tag-san-diego","12":"tag-san-diego-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego-news","14":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}