On March 1st, we moved out of our Altadena location after six years of living and breathing our BK life there.
Last week, as our team and I packed our studio in boxes (a lot of boxes!!), Nerine reminded me that 2351 Lincoln had held us through COVID-19 and the recent Eaton Fire—two major forces that changed and reshaped (and continue to reshape) our world, in addition to our family’s attempted relocation to Asheville and back last year. Feeling sentimental, I was going through some old photos from when we moved into 2351 Lincoln in 2019. I was reminded of how spacious the studio felt compared to our first BK location in Glassell Park. I also remember feeling grateful to have a space with big windows that let natural light through and, finally, having separate areas for fulfillment, inventory, and our community (aka our in-person shop). It felt so grown up. Six years ago, moving from our cozy spot in Glassell Park to our Altadena location was such a giant leap: more square footage, higher rent, and a little (or a lot) more responsibility.
And now we are making another leap again - this time to 2779 W Broadway in Eagle Rock.
Every time I go through these milestones, I am (understandably) a little nervous. I used to feel that I needed to inhale more air to somehow transform my invisible bandwidth a little wider to accommodate the “extra” I have taken on as a business through these leaps.
In March 2019, I could not have foreseen what was ahead of us and where we would be in March 2025… but here we are. BK is turning 15 years old this year, and the seam of our Altadena studio was about to split open because we had grown slowly and steadily to the capacity, even through many ups and downs. Today, I still feel (a little) scared to make yet another leap, but with a sense of groundedness… that comes from a feeling that we are doing this together as a community. And wow. Doesn’t that feel so different from six years ago? We already had many beautiful seeds of friendships sprouting in and around BK when we moved from Glassell Park to Altadena. But I really feel that we tended and strengthened our connections with our community during our Altadena time. I have watched our BK friends’ kids and grandkids grow taller and older as they visit our store on Sundays over many years… in return, they watched Satchi and Coco grow up. Receiving new orders from our long-time online customers with a sweet note attached to the order brings us enormous smiles every time. We witnessed many relationships being born and nurtured during our opening hours, and like-hearted analog enthusiasts met and became great friends serendipitously. And to me, that’s so beautiful, and I feel honored that we were a part of all that.
Thank you, 2351 Lincoln, Altadena, for allowing us to grow and evolve at our own pace and for being a gentle container that held all the tides of BK.
-wakako
always a metamorphosis in progress...
Topanga// March 6th, 2025
**This story is from BK Love Letter for March 2025. If you would like to see the entire love letter we sent to our community including links to the new and updated BK artifacts, you can browse it via this link.
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