Monday, November 24, 1997
STORE:
Skid Row residents create crafts, learn lessons in business
managementBy Carol McKay
Daily Bruin Staff
Raymond Brown calls it "the greatest organization in the last 20
years." Chuck McClain, a licensed architect, quit his job to start
it.
The two men are both co-founders of Skid Row Access, a company
owned and operated by residents of Skid Row, an impoverished area
in downtown Los Angeles. And they have a lot to be proud of.
Most recently, the organization, which previously operated
through 40,000 mail-order catalogues and craft shows, opened a
store at the Westside Pavilion. And according to McClain, the
company  which has been sought after by cities across the
nation to help provide the blueprints for other companies to follow
 is just getting started.
"The experiment at Westside Pavilion is going really well," said
McClain, who finally after "years and years" has risen from
volunteer to employee status.
"People are really blown away by seeing the residents of Skid
Row and what they can do," McClain said. "It’s really breaking down
stereotypes."
It’s taken Skid Row Access  a company that began when a
group of friends living on Skid Row attracted the interest of a
local architect  six and a half years to get to where it is
now. McClain and Brown tell similar stories of how the company got
off its feet, but from two very different points of view.
"A group of us wanted to form income to get off welfare," said
Brown, who lives on Skid Row. "An architect who was bored with his
job wanted to help his community. We got lucky."
Brown and his friends put their heads together and began working
with McClain to establish a plan for a company that now expects to
bring in $150,000 in revenue selling crafts made by residents of
Skid Row.
The first items sold were based on a wooden toy produced by
Brown. He had found the scrap wood behind the hotel where he was
staying. "It was really crude," McClain said. "But it felt like
something could happen with that."
And something did. Months later, at a craft show, the toys sold
out and the group made about $2,000. Brown and another artisan
donated their own profits from the first holiday season back to the
company, and Skid Row Access was founded after a trip to Sears for
a set of tools.
And according to McClain, they’ve been doubling their profits
every year since then. The facilities have grown as well.
"First we were in a 10 foot by 10 foot room. It didn’t take us
long to outgrow that. Then we had 900 square feet, and we outgrew
that," Brown said. "Then we had 6,000 square feet, and most
recently we moved into 9,000. As more and more people get involved,
we need more room.
"But I would much rather outgrow a building than try to grow
into one," he added, laughing. Brown noted the difference that
participation in the company has made for residents of Skid
Row.
"A lot of people move here and get stuck in the welfare system.
It’s like a drug. Getting a job and earning an income can help fix
that," Brown said, adding that he has seen people get an apartment
and make car payments after beginning to work at Skid Row
Access.
"We’re hoping to have even more automobiles in the parking lot,"
he said.
Despite the growth, the company’s policy continues to allot only
one third of all profits to Skid Row Access. The rest of the money
returns to the artist who created the products.
"The purpose is to provide an opportunity to earn an income,"
Brown said. "And we try to be fully self-funding, with no grants
from the government. It’s strictly through sales."
Both sales and public interest went up after Skid Row Access was
featured several years ago on Nightline.
"We got calls from all over. People wanted us to start up
businesses in their cities," Brown said. "But what we’re trying to
do is show other people what’s possible with their own
communities."
McClain remembers the bombardment of calls after Nightline’s
feature as well. "They made us look like we’ve completely got our
act together. And that’s been completely untrue."
McClain describes fondly the learning process he and the others
went through before arriving at Skid Row Access’ current
success.
"It’s been a challenge as we continue to learn systems and
procedures. But we’re getting much closer to being able to provide
other groups with useful data. We’re still learning so much."
A book laying the groundwork for other groups to follow is
tentatively planned for next year. The challenges McClain describes
concern both internal and external factors.
"I’m pretty sure most of our managers have never come close to
being a manager before," he said. "We have to be patient, watchful
 and we’ve been lucky. It’s been a path with the heart."
Sorting out advice from both non-profit and for-profit
organizations has also proved to be a challenge, he added.
"Sometimes we listen to the advisors like they’re the experts, as
if they always know better than you.
"We’ve forgotten to listen to what got us here  to the
intuition of the (founders)."
But getting over those bumps successfully has meant providing
jobs for dozens of artists and merchants. Now that the store at
Westside has opened for the holiday season, even more Skid Row
residents have the opportunity to benefit from it.
"It’s giving me a chance to have a job," said Mary Ingram, who
has been working at Westside Pavilion since the store opened on
Nov. 1. "It’s helping me be more independent so I can get things
for my daughter."
Ingram is one of several employees at the Westside store which,
though planned as temporary, may become a more permanent part of
the mall’s store lineup.
Skid Row Access is scheduled to be out of the mall just before
Christmas, on Dec. 24, but its success may determine a longer stay
at the Pavilion.
"(The management) has let us know they’d be happy to have us
stay," he said of the store, which has already brought in thousands
of dollars. "And as it gets closer to the holidays, you can’t
imagine sales would go anywhere but up."
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Two dolls grace the window of Skid Row Access, a store in the
Westside Pavilion that sells products produced by residents of Skid
Row. The profits go to help the residents.