Gum Tree

Lori, Little Will, Big Will and Lily at Gum Tree Hermosa, 2016

The Early Days

We opened our Hermosa Beach shop and café in 2008, in the early days of  Southbay magazine. We remember working with Todd Klawin and Jared Sayers to bring more awareness to Downtown Hermosa. We were brand new to the business community and got very involved—working hard to establish our shop as a community gathering spot. We hosted PTA, Sandpiper and community meetings, girls night shopping parties, school fundraisers and more. Lori started First Thursdays with the Hermosa Chamber, and  Southbay was generous in helping us promote that event.

Community Support

From the beginning, we’ve hosted so many community events. We started our signature Santa photo event benefitting Hermosa Beach Education Foundation in our first year of business, and over the years we’ve raised well over $100,000! Gum Tree has worked hand in hand with Sandpipers for the past 17 years, decorating a home for their Holiday Homes Tour. It’s one of our favorite holiday traditions. We opened our second shop in Downtown Manhattan Beach in 2016, and Lori joined the board of the Downtown MB Business & Professional Association. We donate to school and nonprofit silent auctions, sponsor Little League teams, purchase ads in school sports and theater programs, to name a few.

Local Loyalty

Local businesses are the heart of any thriving community, and our community members are incredible. They love to shop local, and they understand the importance of supporting small businesses so we can continue to give back. It’s a beautiful partnership, and we feel so lucky to be part of the South Bay.

New & Exciting

We have a lot going on this year! After the loss of our lease at our original Manhattan Beach location, we will soon open our new shop in Downtown Manhattan Beach. Our third shop—in Redondo Beach—opened in July. We owe a lot of our success to our local and loyal staff, who work hard for us every day to provide top-level customer service. We have the best team ever!

Southbay Love

We may be biased, but our favorite  Southbay HOME magazine cover featured our Airstream, our daughter and her horse! We were delighted that Lauren Taylor’s beautiful photo made the cover! We have so many memories of events in the early days of  Southbay: Girls Night Out in Manhattan Beach and Terranea, fun issue release parties—it was so much fun. We look forward to many more years of partnership. Thanks,  Southbay!

Main image photographed by Anton Watts | Throwback image photographed by Lauren Taylor