Small Businesses Adapt to the Times: CRFT by Maki Opens Its Doors in Little Tokyo...and Online
4.23.2020
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LISC StoriesEconomic Development
CRFT by Maki opens its doors on 1st Street in January of 2020.
January 18th, CRFT by Maki opened the doors to its first brick and mortar shop in Los Angeles on the historic 1st street, and months later, temporarily closed them to help keep the City safe in a critical time. CRFT by Maki is a Japanese inspired lifestyle brand and one of five businesses that was launched by the LA Small Bizcubator, run by the Little Tokyo Service Center and supported by LISC LA. The program which ran through 2018 to 2019 helped five Japanese American entrepreneurs see their businesses through the incubation period to become pop-up shops in Little Tokyo.
Little Tokyo was once an entrepreneurial hub before legal and societal displacement dispersed the local population over the past century. Over the past 40 years, the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) has succeeded in supporting the community and revitalizing the once bustling area. The LTSC runs a variety of services for the welfare, development, and cultural preservation of the historic area and its residents. We have been proud partners of LTSC for close to 30 years, supporting their mission with just over $11 million dollars in grants and loans. Today the area is one of three remaining Japantowns in the United States, and the LTSC’s programs are helping it thrive.
CRFT by Maki sells Japanese-inspired merchandise at its new storefront.
This neighborhood once boasted one of the most robust small business economies in Los Angeles but through waves of displacement it has shrunk significantly in size.This is a great win for the Little Tokyo small business community to welcome Japanese American entrepreneur Darin Maki to be a part of the small business legacy of one of three remaining historic Japantowns in the United States.
The LA Small Bizcubator program was founded to revitalize the entrepreneurial spirit that once animated the area. In support of the work, LISC LA gave its long time partner a HUD Section 4 grant to fund community development through the Bizcubator program.
Angelenos support CRFT by Maki at the opening.
The new store for CRFT by Maki, housed on the first floor of a LTSC-owned building, comes on the two year anniversary of their initial opening as a pop-up shop. The store run by Darin Maki, Japanese American former basketball player and brand owner, sells clothing and apparel with influence from his heritage. Maki hopes his business will show that Japanese Americans can be entrepreneurs and create their own space in the business world. But quickly the brand has had to adapt, from pop-up to storefront to now online.
With the recent onset of the COVID-19 crisis, CRFT by Maki has rapidly adapted to selling merchandise through its online website. Resilient small businesses like these are fighting to stay open, and LISC LA is actively engaging in supporting them through programs like our Rapid Relief and Resiliency Fund which supports small businesses in a critical time. And you too can be a supporter.
You can stand with us at LISC LA and the LTSC by shopping at the diverse, small businesses which are vital to the wellbeing of our communities. Leaders like Darin Maki and those like him are paving a new path and inspiring a new generation of Americans, carving out a space for their communities in Los Angeles while building a bridge to reach beyond ethnic lines. By supporting their businesses, you can be a supporter of an inclusive, thriving Los Angeles.
