Meet Melissa Carpenter of Family Store in Long Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Carpenter.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Early in childhood I decided I wanted to be in the fashion world. Ripping out pages in Vogue and writing down my outfits then developed into attending FIT in NYC. I double majored in Men’s and Women’s fashion design and landed the very coveted job of men’s outerwear & board short designer for A&F back in the good ole first days of the mega brand. I was then put on a “secret concept” brand with 2 other team members to start a brand that later revealed its self as Hollister. During the next 12 years, I relocated to CA, worked for PacSun, Vans and finally Quicksilver where I was SVP of Roxy. When the brand decided to relocate to France, I took a chance and opened Family Store. I left corporate behind and jumped from fashion designer to boutique owner and have never looked back!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Hell no…And yes, very at the same time! I loved the remodeling & build out of the space…merching the product, designing capsule pieces, meeting artist and all the fun stuff! The back end & web have been challenging as I needed more knowledge and experience (than I had gained as a designer) to accomplish,

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Family Store is about sharing and caring. The store is a conceptual baby & kids store with a touch of housewares and lifestyle adult products. The store is curated with artisan hand made goods from all over the world. The theory of the store is to work from the ground up, not top down. Many of my artist are independent talented craftsman. Many experience retail/wholesale for the first time on the shelves inside the Family Store. Creating this Family of creative craftsman was my mission. I wanted to provide a platform and help them grow their businesses as well as bring one of a kind goods to my customers. I also offer workshops, music time, after school art programs, and Saturday reading time at the store. This brings the community together which was also a mission of mine with the Family. And…We host baby showers, bridal shows and all types of events in the space as well.

The community offerings and the parties & events offer a place for locals to gather, learn and share. This is new for Long Beach. And that mixed together with the curated vibe of the store sets Family apart from most kids stores out there.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up in Indiana was interesting. I lived in a small…very small farm town. I was about 25 miles from downtown Indianapolis. I spent a lot of time in down town as it was hard to connect to anyone in my immediate town. I was pretty much cute goth. I wore all black with bright red lipstick! My wardrobe was pretty amazing though…I vintage shopped constantly. I loved vintage shopping, sewing, painting, and writing growing up.

I definitely had a bit of an attitude in my personality as I had to develop a pretty hard shell to defend against the small town misunderstanding of a goth girl! It was tough being different at times…but I always had confidence that I would make it to NYC and live my dream of being a designer. My parents were very supportive of me and always encouraged me to follow my dreams. I am so glad to have had that support and so glad to have experienced all I have, and all I continue to do!

Contact Info:

• Address: Family Store
  412 Termino Ave
  Long Beach CA 90814
• Website: www.shopfamilystore.com
• Phone: 5626766810
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: familystorelb
• Facebook: familystore

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.