Facing Seaside Phase I
This blog post includes the 5 businesses that we worked with during Phase I of The Facing Seaside Project. It was a real treat getting to know these hard working individuals and extend our reach within the community. We are currently fundraising for Phase II!
Oaxaca on Broadway: Spaceship Corazón
Talkin’ Oaxacan: The Cultural Evolution of Seaside
Casa a Mi Dinero and Corazón de Oaxaca are the two names of the businesses that operate out of a building that looks like a parked spaceship halfway up Broadway Avenue in Seaside. As you drive up to the building, you can see the satellite dishes lining the roof, linking up with the stars, like a Millennium Falcon docked in between missions. Inside, you can use money transfer services or buy authentic Oaxacan goods directly shipped each week.
Here is where Zach Weston and Jake Thomas first learned about the deep Oaxacan roots on Broadway Avenue in Seaside. This place of business is a vital conduit of Oaxacan culture in Seaside. Dinero a Mi Casa and Corazón de Oaxaca are a hub of culture and commerce, connecting a city and region in Mexico to Seaside in California.
Indigenous Ingenuity: Curating Corazón
Pablo Robles has been in Seaside since the 1980s. He is a long-time entrepreneur, and he has a passion for Oaxacan traditions and people. Part of his mission is to sustain the Oaxacan way of life and offer a feeling of home for Oaxacans in Seaside.
Mr. Robles uses his charisma and way with words to create meaningful connections within the community. Speaking with Robles, his love for Oaxacan culture is evident. He puts the community first, which shows in the establishment of his online radio station that offers tips to the community on successfully living in the United States.
La Radio Robles: Broadcasting from Broadway
Corazón de Oaxaca is a cross-cultural place of connection. Robles has fortified their role through an online broadcasting station that offers tips about the US to the Latino community. In addition, he is building his business by combining a love for the culture and a desire to create a platform for sharing the Oaxacan community's stories.
He is a man who wears many hats. He is a business owner, broadcaster, cultural sustainer, and well put together businessman. He is a good neighbor behind the scenes on Broadway Avenue. He makes his neighbors happy to be a part of the neighborhood.
*Shipments come in on Fridays. They have a wide variety of traditional Oaxacan goods such as spices, grasshoppers, tortillas, etc.
Authentic Oaxacan Bakery and Deli: Sweet Dreams Delight
Halfway up Broadway Avenue in Seaside is a beacon of Oaxacan baked goods, foods, and drinks. It is a cultural center, a community gathering place, and an organizing hub. To visit Sweet Dreams Delight is to walk inside an Oaxacan eatery full of smells and smiles from this traditional culture of a region in Mexico.
We visited the bakery during the annual baking of a bread called Rosca de Reyes, also known as Three Kings Bread for the New Year. This event is called Día de Los Reyes, and the bakery sells over 1,000 pieces of dessert bread. Hidden inside some of the loaves are small figurines designating who will have the honor of contributing to the annual community feast.
A Taste of Oaxaca in Seaside
The care and attention to detail bring Seaside's Oaxacan population a sense of home and community through this annual tradition. The easiest and most reliable way to know that this bakery is a community center is to witness the steady flow of customers lining up to buy their favorite baked goods until nine o'clock at night.
Sweet Dreams Delight remains rooted in the traditional baking processes of the Oaxacan culture as well as some creative variations like pretzel-shaped traditional Oaxacan bread. You can find amazing baked goods for an extremely reasonable price. If you want to get baked goods for a party in the Seaside area, this would be a fantastic choice. Sweet Dreams Delight provides quality Oaxacan baked goods at a price that delivers great value.
Family, Community, and Food
This organization is spearheaded by Juan Mijangos, a recent CSUMB graduate, and supported by five family members, all with varying roles within the business. It is crucial to not only provide authentic baked goods but to remain a family-based business. The sense of family comes out in the aura of the bakery when you go in to select your goods.
When we corresponded with Juan, he had this to say about Sweet Dreams Delight:
“We are trying to reach all hungry customers who are looking for a distinct location that is focused on providing traditional foods from our small town called Oaxaca in Mexico.
Our business is focused on offering baked goods called “pan dulce” as well as a variety of pastries, hot drinks in the morning such as Atole, champurrado in the evenings, and of course drip coffee. Not only are we a bakery, but we are also a restaurant that serves sandwiches called ‘tortas,’ burritos, plated dinners, and specialty items such as tacos oaxaqueños, dobladas, gringas, and tlayudas.
Our specialty is Pan Dulce and Oaxacan foods, such as our grilled meats, due to our seasonings and the way we prepare them.
— Juan Mijango
When it comes to what he hopes for in the future, Juan writes: “We hope to achieve great customer satisfaction by leaving them with a great first impression as well as serving them delicious food and sweets. We hope to one day expand and open a second location elsewhere.”
We Love Seaside: Side Affects Barbershop and Venue
Fresh Fades Made Daily: The Art of Barbering
While the atmosphere is chill and welcoming at Side Affects, you can also tell they settle for nothing less than perfection. The gentlemen at this Seaside venue have perfected the art of cutting hair and have serious pride in the services they provide to the community. Having a clean cut is a crucial confidence builder and can be the difference in how someone views themselves.
Haircuts average about an hour-long, which is a testament to the care and effort they put into each customer who sits down in a barber chair. The barbershop is not the place for a "quick cut" that might be acceptable but also might be horrendous. No one walks out of Side Affects with a frown, feeling rushed. Instead, Geo and the Side Affects team hope that each customer leaves looking their best, beaming with confidence, and ready to take on the day. They specialize in cuts of all ages, even toddlers who have trouble sitting still for five seconds.
Team Seaside: Community Building at the Barbershop
Side Affects is a joint venture undertaken by three longtime friends: George Pincham III, E.J. Rowland, and Orlando Johnson. These Seaside natives, with pride for their hometown, strive to represent the city they know and love through this business. Last fall, they organized the event Labor of Love which donated haircuts and school supplies to students returning to the classroom.
As stated on a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Instagram post: “Over 80 nominated kids received free haircuts, backpacks filled with school supplies, vouchers, a hot meal, and toys." This annual event gave almost a hundred young Seahorses a fresh start in a true celebration of Seaside pride. If you want to find out how to get involved in next year's event, contact George, HERE: SIDE AFFECTS CONTACT
A Culture of Quality: The Geo Affect
The barbershop is a place of conversation and elevation. People come to get a clean cut and to catch up with friends. Side Affects achieved the most important thing a business can have: culture. The trait that makes this barbershop stand apart is the care for quality. In a world full of fast food and cheap plastic goods, it is refreshing to walk into a place where quality matters more than quantity.
Side Affects is a place to get a haircut, but it is also an experience. It is an hour spent in conversation with the smells and sounds of soap and scissors doing work to make a fresh appearance. Sometimes, it can be the little things that make all the difference, and the folks at Side Affects have all the details dialed. So schedule yourself or your loved one an experience at Side Affects and get to know a key part of the heart of Seaside.
Traders of the Lost Ark: The Covenant in Seaside
Fishbowl Aesthetics: Promising Art at NEW Seaside Shop
If you love art and fashion, the art of fashion, the fashion of art, then you'll enjoy a visit to the new venue on Broadway Street in Seaside called The Covenant. It is the product of five young Seaside men, friends from childhood, bonded by a love of business, sneakers, and art. Together they have created a thriving resale sneaker business that is also a vibrant art space.
There is something refreshingly nostalgic and optimistically forward-thinking about this Seaside business. The walls are lined on one side with the greatest variety of Jordans you could imagine. Yeezys dominate the other side. It is truly an ever-changing gallery of sneaker art. This reminiscent-futuristic creative tension is set off perfectly by the pop art murals painted by half a dozen Seaside artists.
Titmilk 2.0: One of Seaside’s Favorite Sons
Titmilk recently posted a photo of him posing next to Bill Murray. It was no huge surprise, considering the sparks of star power bursting from Titmilk as he paints and does his art thing. So it makes sense that he would end up standing in front of a sign for a hotel window next to one of America's most beloved film characters.
Titmilk painted many of the murals at The Covenant, and his style greets you as you enter the space. The Covenant chose a great artist to set the tone. Titmilk's whimsical pop narrative style provides a fun background for shooting content. It transforms the space into a set, a stage for some yet unknown creative act. When you visit The Covenant on Broadway in Seaside, make sure to ask about Titmilk and check out his work.
Thumbs Up Attitude: Thuumbzzy and Better Days
Another artist who plays an integral role at The Covenant is painter and photographer Jorge Torres, aka Thuumbzzy, who painted a massive octopus mural in the shop's main room. Torres is a Marina-based Renaissance man who paints, makes photographs, and skateboards. He created his own design and skateboard label, Better Days.
Torres has a positive attitude, which fits in perfectly at The Covenant. He joins a team of enthusiastic entrepreneurs in a culture-making endeavor with his camera and paint, and Seaside is a more exciting place for their arrangement. If you want to check out the up-and-coming art scene in Seaside, The Covenant is a must-see, and make sure to ask about Thuumbbzy.
Because of Cuz: It’s All There
A Place to Be With Friends
Cuz’s Sportsman Club is a communal place for longtime friends to gather and spend quality time together. The owner, Michelle Kaan, has run this fine establishment at the base of Broadway Avenue in Seaside for the past 30 years. So, those friends, over time, have become family.
Michelle continued the tradition of Cuz’s Sportsman’s Club, following her father’s legacy, Cuz, who was the previous owner. A successful entrepreneur, Michelle has built Cuz’s Sportsman Club into an institution of Seaside culture and fixed establishment in the local landscape. Not only is it a fun place to hang out with friends, but it is actively involved in community building.
Building a Confident Community
For example, partnering with CSUMB, Cuz’s Sportsman’s Club used the 2022 Super Bowl event as an opportunity to collect donations for people without homes. When the artists spoke with Michelle, it was evident that she cares deeply about the people of Seaside, and she understands that it has been a challenging time for many.
Michelle is known for her focus on the positive. Her positive attitude shined as her eyes glimmered with a sense of faith in human goodness when she recounted how the people involved in the Homeless Drive would go out under the bridges to check on people.
Pull the Hogs Out
Cuz’s Sportsman’s Club is known for its group of friends who enjoy motorcycle culture and frequent the establishment. As a result, on any given day, you can find a collection of immaculate motorcycle art in the parking lot. There’s no other way to describe the hot rods and Harleys that park out in front of the neon sign at Cuz’s Sportsman’s Club than as automotive art.
The clientele who frequent Cuz’s Sportsman’s Club is a solid group who have each others’ backs and enjoy a common culture of collecting. They collect cars, bikes, skateboards, surfboards, scars, and memories. So, if you’re looking for an authentic Seaside experience, make sure to stop by Cuz’s Sportsman’s Club on Broadway.