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<\/p>\nOlvera Street sits in the oldest plaza in California \u2014 the heart of El Pueblo de Los \u00c1ngeles.<\/p>\n
The vibrant stalls that line the terracotta cobblestone road sell Mexican goods, like leather guaraches, talavera pottery, and woven blankets.<\/p>\n
They were once a tourist hotspot, packed with locals and visitors alike shuffling between the many restaurants, shops and museums. But on a weekday during the World Cup, before one of the most anticipated matches in L.A. between Mexico and South Korea, the corridor was quiet.<\/p>\n
Maria Naranjo operates a stall and sells T-shirts, traditional dishes, ponchos, and more. She\u2019s worked at Olvera Street for more than 16 years.<\/p>\n
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Naranjo told LAist that she and other shopkeepers thought the World Cup would provide a lifeline to Olvera Street with an influx of visitors and their business. Hopes were high after a devastating year of federal immigration enforcement, a slowing economy and lasting impacts from the COVID-19 shutdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cEst\u00e1bamos esperando eso para ver si ven\u00eda mucha m\u00e1s gente porque entre la semana, si te fijas, est\u00e1 solo,\u201d Naranjo said. \u201cFin de semana un poquito, pero no es como que ‘wow’.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weekdays are lonely, Naranjo said, and on weekends, traffic picks up a bit, but barely.<\/p>\n
\u201cYo trabajo aqu\u00ed nom\u00e1s como tres d\u00edas a la semana de los siete d\u00edas que se abr\u00edan. Muchos puestos han cerrado por lo mismo,\u201d Naranjo said.<\/p>\n
Naranjo said she only works three days out of the week. Especially after the ICE raids, many shops had to close down because Olvera Street was mostly deserted. Folks struggled to recuperate.<\/p>\n
Xochitl Rios was setting up shop on a Tuesday afternoon \u2014 a booth her family has operated since the 1960s. The street was quiet aside from a few locals and other stores setting up for the day.<\/p>\n
Rios told LAist that most shop owners are unable to pay for employees for a full day of work, let alone a full week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the ’60s, we used to close, probably around 11 o’clock,\u201d Rios said. \u201cComing in 8 o’clock in the morning. Right now, you can come in at 10 [a.m.] and leave no later than three or four.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Vendors thought business would trickle in from World Cup watch parties and other events, but even on the day of the tournament\u2019s most anticipated game \u2014 Mexico vs. South Korea \u2014 the corridor was mostly empty. <\/p>\n
You can\u2019t tell the World Cup is in town\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rios said city officials made it seem like World Cup hype would trickle down to Olvera Street, whether it was through watch parties or an increase in tourism. But Rios said that isn\u2019t the case so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody was so happy, but it’s not happening,\u201d Rios said, adding that she sees tourists mostly run through the area for the restroom before getting back on their tour buses.<\/p>\n
Jasmin Lopez of South L.A. has been working on Olvera Street for eight years. As she set up the candy stall, Lopez told LAist that the city is having events as promised, but she sees most traffic go to La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the home base for Casa M\u00e9xico during the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could have done more. They do look for bars, parties, and I send them to Little Tokyo or Chinatown, because that’s where I know the bars are,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cWe could have organized better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lopez said she would like to see more efforts from local leaders to keep Olvera Street alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a historic landmark. We have the oldest house here in L.A.,\u201d Lopez added. \u201cYou would think, because this is a historic landmark, they would put a little bit more effort. Isn’t that what you do when something is supposed to be part of history? You try to preserve it. Maybe they should try a little bit harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some vendors try to capture the moment\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some shopkeepers slightly upgraded their inventory to try attracting soccer fans with jerseys or World Cup T-shirts.<\/p>\n
Diana Diaz is a newer addition to the corridor. At her hot pink kiosk, you can find embroidered button-ups, colorful jewelry, and her most recent addition \u2014 soccer leather handbags. She told LAist that she uses social media, such as TikTok, to reach new shoppers.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Diana Diaz added soccer ball handbags to her Olvera Street shop to capitalize on the World Cup excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are coming to Olvera Street just to buy the soccer bag for the World Cup,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cI’m trying to capitalize on that and also create beautiful memories and beautiful images for people that want to look back on World Cup 2026 and feel good about the celebration that the city collectively organized.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shopping local is critical, Diaz added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy investing in small businesses, you’re investing in the community,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cYou help businesses grow, especially businesses that are contributing to the growth of our local economy, that are invested in our youth, that are invested in hiring local, that are invested in really showcasing the diverse cultural landscape that exists within L.A. It\u2019s powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
How did we get here?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vendors say it\u2019s a culmination of things \u2014 the pandemic, immigration enforcement and a struggling local economy, people are struggling to pay for basic needs, like groceries and rent.<\/p>\n
Michael Mariscal now owns a shop that he says has been passed down through generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe immigration stuff chased away half of our base, because half of our base is the local Latino community,\u201d Mariscal told LAist. \u201cEven when parts of their family come to visit, first place they\u2019d to come (to) is Olvera Street. We’ve lost a lot of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Michael Mariscal owns a shop on Olvera Street that he says has been passed down through generations. The World Cup, he said, has had little effect on business, but he hopes it will improve as the games continue. <\/p>\n
Mariscal said he takes the good with the bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work hard. The Lord provides. It’ll be what it’ll be,\u201d Mariscal added. \u201cI expect it to be better the last two or three weeks, because that’s the end of it. People may be taking souvenirs back. It just also depends the teams that are coming and where they’re playing, and where they’re going to be watched at.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does the city say?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado represents the district that includes El Pueblo. Jurado\u2019s office did not respond to LAist\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Domenika Lynch, general manager of El Pueblo de Los \u00c1ngeles Historical Monument, said the Olvera Street story is a comeback one, but that\u2019s going to take some time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen increased traffic since before the World Cup, but are they shopping as we wish that they would? I think that is where the challenge lies,\u201d Lynch told LAist. \u201cI sympathize. The venue is cleaner, it’s safer. We need Angelenos to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m a firm believer that people will come. We just have to give people a reason to come back,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Lynch said her job for the last eight months has been to improve foot traffic and create activities with a very limited budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m addressing a lot of the neglect that happened. There’s a lot of different maintenance needed, so we are addressing it. I know our best days are ahead,\u201d Lynch said. \u201cThe World Cup, it’s one of those moments where we’re better today than we were eight months ago, but is that enough? Absolutely not, and we are working on it every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
How to visit Olvera Street<\/p>\n
Open seven days a week, holidays included
Location: 845 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (some stalls stay open until 8 p.m.; store hours vary))
Cost: No admission to visit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Olvera Street sits in the oldest plaza in California \u2014 the heart of El Pueblo de Los \u00c1ngeles.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[155706,48,52,51,47,50,49,22578,7408,5393],"class_list":["post-386134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-kick-it-in-the-park","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-olvera-street","tag-vendors","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386134","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=386134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}