Bringing Tradition Back
When Robert Fernandez walks through Olvera Street, he doesn’t see the same corridor where his family opened a gift shop in the 1930s.
“It’s been such a traditional place,” Fernandez said last week. “Growing up as a child and going to Olvera Street to visit my uncle, I remember the shop that sold nothing but handmade toys from Mexico, the dressmaker, the leather worker. You don’t really see a lot of that tradition anymore.”
Instead, in the historic birthplace of the city, Mexican tradition has taken a back seat to the demand for trinkets, cheap souvenirs and items that can be found just about anywhere else, he laments.
But Fernandez, along with officials with El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, the official name of the 44-acre site where 78 shops and restaurants attract millions of visitors annually, are hoping a few shots of tequila can help spark a change.
The El Pueblo Board of Commissioners last Thursday approved a policy to allow Fernandez to sell liquor and convert his family’s gift shop into a high-end tequila store. The decision also requires approval from the city Planning Commission.
