"Tell all your friends"

says Angel from Coco's Variety

Joy!  A week ago we learned that Coco’s Variety has reopened. What an unexpected surprise to have an “older” neighborhood business open its doors again. 

What does this mean for us over here on the northern edge of Elysian Valley + Frogtown? Psychologically, it changes my own mental map of the neighborhood. It feels like an old friend has returned, like the perfect warm cozy blanket is around you on the most comfortable section of the couch. Riverside Drive, with it’s freeway-like pace, now has a renewed sense of warmth that reverberates outward and tickles our toes on Clearwater Street.

I realize now, as I write, that this is a rare feeling in a gentrified neighborhood. Rarely can you feel a sense of return within the physical landscape that surrounds you which has become alien and padded with new businesses that might or might not welcome you. It almost never happens that something from the past comes back in almost the same way that it existed before. What a strange and revelatory discovery to feel that feeling!

It turns out that Angel Dubon, Coco’s longtime employee and bike mechanic, is responsible for the reopening. So Dario and I thought it would be best to head over to Coco’s and interview him. Here’s our conversation:

Julia: Hi Angel, good afternoon, where are we? Set the stage for us. 

Angel: We're at Coco's Variety bicycle shop. I’ve been here since October of 2010 — that’s 14 years! I grew up in what's known as Frogtown, not too far from here, a mile or so from here, and I've always lived in and around the area.

Julia: How did you find out about Coco's? 

Angel: It was always a neighborhood store and I got to the point where I needed to get to school. I was commuting to and from, and a bike was the most accessible, easy way for me to get there. I picked up my dad's old bike, did what I could on it, and then what I couldn't do, I brought into Coco’s for service. They got me going on my first bike.

Julia: And then how did you eventually get employed by Coco’s?

Angel: I became friends with the employees at the time at Coco’s, would stop by on my way home from school, chat with them, and we got to be close. And slowly but surely I got noticed by Peter just by coming in and hanging out. This was and is my first and only job. This was my first job through the last bit of high school. And I'm still here. 

Dario: What were some of the tasks that you used to do when you first started?

Angel: When I first started, I didn't know how to work on bikes. That's basically why I came in here myself. So I started just by cleaning bikes, stripping down bikes, taking components off from project bikes and then cleaning and reassembling as far as I could, but no technical work.

Julia: What do you think about Coco's as a neighborhood business? 

Angel: Coco’s fills in a huge gap that the neighborhood in general needs. The neighborhood ranges anywhere from people struggling to get by to people very well off.  We help both sides of the community. Everyone rides a bike and we work on everything from celebrities’ bikes to bikes owned by people  making ends meet and their bike is their only way of transportation. We offer a quick flat fix so people can get to work.  So just in two weeks time we've had so many people come in thankful that we're here and back to serve the community.

Julia: That's great. That must feel satisfying.

Angel: It is, yeah. And It's part of why we were open throughout the pandemic. It's because we were a basic need, essentially, of people just trying to get to work. And we pushed through it during that time for that very reason.

Julia: What's been your experience as an employee of a small business in a gentrifying neighborhood post pandemic?

Angel:  It's interesting. It's interesting to see change throughout the years, just from 2010 up to now, how the clientele base has changed and how we've had to change with it. We are now carrying more new bikes. Bikes with a higher price tag because the market's just there for it now.

It is a little tough because of it leaving behind what the neighborhood was of just your day to day, working class folks that can't necessarily buy a thousand dollar plus bike. But because of it, we try to cater to both sides. So we're trying to go hand in hand with both sides of it.

Dario: As an employee of Coco’s what was it like during covid?

Angel: It was very stressful. Having People at home who I live with and were high risk if they got COVID.

But it was also something that was very needed throughout that period. I was both working here and a couple times I actually helped the neighbors next door at Bub's and Grandma deliver food and stuff to some of their employees that got COVID. It was tough, stressful, so we just carried on.

Julia: I heard that you proposed to reopen the store. Is that true? You put together a business plan? 

Angel: So if we want to be able to continue helping the community, we had to change what we were doing because the by appointment system wasn't working. And after just a couple weeks of being open it's been night and day of the amount of sales. The amount of people we're able to reach. 

Julia: So to have a job that's in the neighborhood that you grew up in. It’s a rare thing. 

Angel: Yeah, it's amazing being able to work in the community I live in. Recognizing people just at the grocery store, just customers I'm able to help and keep going. It's great to see that. My father also has always worked in this area for all his life basically and now retired. So it's been great. I enjoy living in this area. It's got the bike path that goes along the river. That's fantastic. It's got a river park just down the road. That's fantastic riding. 

Julia: What do your parents think about the way the neighborhood has changed?

Angel: That's a great question. The neighborhood feels much safer than it used to be. My parents lived in this area before I was born. And it wasn’t always pleasant here. There were always robberies and you would come out and there were fights breaking out in the middle of the street and that sort of thing.

Julia: Are there downsides to the changes? 

Angel: Not necessarily. The cost of living could be one, but aside from that, I don't really see a downside.

Dario: What do you think the future holds for Coco’s?

Angel: That was a great question. I was here at the point where we were carrying five gallon jugs of water to and from cars. And it's always changing with what the neighborhood wants and requires. Basically, the neighborhood needed a bike shop. So we became one. Just two weeks ago we hadn't considered being open and here we are now being a full on bike shop again. 

Dario: I saw your tattoo. Can you talk a little bit about your tattoo?

Angel: I started working here because I wanted to be able to afford racing bikes. Working on stuff myself. But this was actually a prize from a bike race. It was a prize for a first place finish. 

Dario: A tattoo? That's cool. 

Angel: For one of the events it was a first place prize was a tattoo and I had to get my parents to sign off on it, but they were okay with me getting it because I think I was like 17. 

Julia: What's your favorite ride in the city?

Angel: I want to say it would be the Griffith Park Loop, it's secluded from cars. It's just you and the road, basically. You go up and you can do as you please. As many loops as you want on there and you could clock in a 30 mile ride without ever repeating the same road and away from cars. Hands down my favorite ride.

Dario: What's your invitation to people to come back to Coco's? Do you have a little pitch that you want to record?

Angel: Tell all your friends about Coco’s. Come in and get a bike. 

Dario: Tell all your friends. We'll do that. Absolutely

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