Reading is a sweet idea for newsstand
In the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall
Let’s say you’re a freak for Hip Hop news, and you’re looking for a classic copy of The Source, or Slam or XXL.
You might find one at Urban Experience Bookstore & Publications in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall, right next to Toys R Us and the Children’s Place on the mall’s first level.
Or let’s say you have a friend or a loved one in a hospital, nursing home or prison, and you want to send them a magazine or even a copy of one of several free weekly newspapers at the stand.
Urban experience will ship them to any men or women’s correctional facility, or nursing home for you.
Or let’s say you have a raging sweet tooth that only some old-school confection like Boston Baked Beans can fill. You can get your grub on with all the Chop Sticks, Lemonheads and Ring Pops you can eat, plus many of the more recent candies like Now & Laters.
One any given day, you might find people standing around reading issues of OurWeekly, the Sentinel, L.A. Focus, the Southwest Wave, or the L.A. Watts Times—all well-known African American newspapers covering the city. (Free reading of the magazines is not allowed; they are kept in a glass case.)
“I love reading, but whenever I wanted to get all of the good stuff, I had to go far out,” said Tiffany Garrard, who with her husband Kenneth started Urban Experience Bookstore on Aug. 9 last year.
“I used to have to go to different newsstands for the publications I liked. I thought it would be a good idea to have all the urban magazines in one place, right here in our community within our reached.”
While Tiffany considered her passion for reading, Kenneth wanted to add a more practical money maker—candy. They put the two ideas together and—Voila!—Urban Experience.
“Here at Urban, when people come to buy magazines they sometimes run into long-lost friends and they have the opportunity to catch up. It really gives you a sense of family and togetherness,” said Tiffany.
The Garrards share duties at the kiosk. Kenneth works from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the day, and Tiffany works night till closing.
The newsstand features more than 50 urban titles, including XXL and The Source; business magazines Black Enterprise and Get Money; underground street magazines Don Diva, AS IS, and F.E.D.S.; women’s magazines Oprah, Essence and Sister to Sister; a British magazine, Black Hair U.K; the well-known Johnson publications, Jet and Ebony; the alternative newspaper, LA Weekly, and a number of Hispanic publications.
Urban Experience sells books by independent writers and publishers, such as works by Wahida Clark and Derrick Ellis, but also some by well-known authors or celebrities such as Terry McMillan, Steve Harvey and Tyrese. Kenneth Garrard has authored a book called “The Credit Cleansing Kit,” which sells for $27.
Because the mall is being renovated, traffic has been slow lately, and that has hurt business. In fact, a few stores have closed down.
However, buyers can purchase many publications online at urbanxbookstore.com, or on Facebook: Urban Experience. The website also offers daily updates on celebrities news, soap operas and various bits of lifestyle news and social issues.
Recently, while out shopping over the weekend, I came across a magazine vendor. As I was trying to decide which Hip Hop publication to purchase, there was one that stood out from the others.
The magazine did not stand out because one of my favorite artists was on the cover or because of some interesting rivalry brewing. This particular issue was peculiar due to the manner in which the two men on the cover were posed for the photograph.
Mix traditional Afro-Cuban dance with the best moves from street Salsa and Hip Hop, then throw in a little Mambo, Rumba and Cha Cha Cha on the side, and the result is the explosive, high-energy Kings of Salsa show, coming to the Lancaster Performing Arts Center tonight at 8. The program features some of the best performers from Cuba’s top dance companies and many of them come from an Afro Cuban heritage. Tickets are $19 and $29, ($10 for children).
This week’s Ultimate Transformation Moment focuses on reading. I am a known advocate of parents keeping their children in rhythm academically throughout the summer months. This is particularly important, and may fall heavier on the parents, now that many of the summer school programs have been discontinued.
After a three-month vacation, it’s easy to understand how a child may slide backward academically by the time school resumes in September.
CHICAGO, Ill.—More than 200 National Newspaper Publishers Association members who gathered at Chicago’s legendary Drake Hotel saw the torch of Black press excellence passed to a new, younger generation in the person of Arizona legislator, the Honorable Clovis Campbell Jr., publisher of the Arizona Informant.
