Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Hebert and John Garcia.
John was originally hired by Ripples in 1973 to reconstruct their books for an insurance claim that was from a fire that destroyed over 50% of the building. Soon after he was promoted to General Manager in 1974. That year he met his life partner, Larry Hebert and hired him as his assistant to manage the operation, This successful team was able to purchase the business from the original 12 owners during the following six years. They became the sole owners by December 1980. They were a team that went from 10 employees and annual sales of $200,000 to over 20 employees and $1,200,000 in annual sales. In 1992, they bought Granada Deli & Liquor and together they have grown the business from $180,000 annual sales, to over $500,000 per year.
Credit their business acumen and integrity for their success. They are both hands on operators and very proud of all their accomplishments.
John’s duties include: All record keeping for both businesses, payroll, inventories, and purchases; daily upkeep and repairs as needed, booking of all entertainment and special events and parties.
Larry does all the liquor store purchases, party planning for the club and total execution of all the events. He works closely with the graphic artist on all the advertising and oversees the overall operation of the business during the nightshifts.
In 1992, John and Larry founded the Long Beach Community Business Network; known today as the Long Beach Gay Chamber of Commerce, a very successful business networking organization,
In 1994, they founded the “PET WALK” to compliment the Annual AIDS WALK OF LONG BEACH. this event was an immediate success that has helped raise over $2,000,000 for local charities here in Long Beach.
In 1999, The Staples Center in Los Angeles awarded John Garcia a Permanent Star at the entrance of Staples Center, one of only 75 recipients to receive this honor, for his humanitarian contributions. Hi contributed his $1000 award to establish the John Garcia Reading Center at the Mary Bethune School in West Long Beach.
They have both been on several different boards of organizations, i.e.: The Long Beach Civic Light Opera, Long Beach Aids Walk, Homestead Hospice & Shelter and the Long Beach Aids Food Store.
They have both received numerous City, County and State Awards, Commendations and Proclamations and are highly regarded and respected by the Long Beach Political, Business and Professionals.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have certainly been lots of struggles throughout our existence. Because being a Gay Business in the ’70s we battled the White Supremacists as they tried to put us out of business any which way they could, the local governmental agencies and even the local police would do nothing to help and protect us. After successfully surviving these problems, we next suffered thru the AIDS epidemic and the peoples lack of knowledge of the disease and our business once again pummeled. Having survived all these adversities, we next had to put up with unscrupulous individuals that came in to our business with the ulterior motive of trying to steal my employees and use them to steal our customer base and put us out of business. We were too smart and experienced for these novices to be able to succeed.
Where Gay Bars were safe havens for Gay People, that is no longer the norm. Because of the passage of the same sex marriage bill, Gays are welcomed anywhere and the Gay bars are all yesterday’s news and our customers are no longer loyal, nor do they remember all we went thru for them, before it was ok to be Gay.
Club Ripples – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Ripples is the longest (45years) and oldest operation perhaps in all of California. By this, I mean run by the same individuals for the duration.
We cater to our customers in any way that we can. We allow them to bring in their pets to enjoy the ocean breezes in our open-air smoking and drinking patio, one of a very few in all of California.
What sets us apart from all other businesses is our location. We are right across the street from the Pacific Ocean and have the most beautiful Panoramic Ocean views with daily breathtaking sunsets.
In our travels throughout the world both my partner and I have always encountered strangers that if you say we’re from Long Beach, the first thing they say is “Ripples”, we’ve been there. Pretty proud of the fact that Ripples has put Long Beach on the map.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
We have two proudest moments in our career so far: First on September 12, 1998 when Larry and I received the Man of the Year award from the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club for the many years of commitment to the Gay and Lesbian Community of Long Beach and then on July 23, 1999 when I received the Staples permanent star at the entrance of Staples Center, one of only 75 recipients to receive this honor for all my humanitarian contributions and along with it a Special Proclamation from then Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill which reads:
“The Pied Piper of Long Beach has given unselfishly to the children and underprivileged of Long Beach, inspiring many to follow his example. He’s reached out to all sectors of our community, from Senior Citizens, Youth, to Business and the Arts. Long Beach is fortunate to call John Garcia a hometown hero.”
Contact Info:
- Address: 5101 East Ocean Boulevard,
Long Beach, CA 90803 - Website: www.clubripples.com
- Phone: 562/433-0357
- Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/clubripples
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/clubripples
- Twitter: twitter.com/clubripples
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/club-ripples-long-beach
Image Credit:
William Cuccio
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