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WOMEN IN BUSINESS 6-B Long Beach Business Journal restaurant owners had to “take a leap of faith” by buying into the event for $475. “Being on the corporate side and understanding operations, I know $475 to a restaurant is not a drop in the bucket. Restaurants work hard for their money and their margins are very slim,” Henry acknowledged. Fifty-one restaurants across Long Beach have signed up for Eat LBC, which takes place from March 30 to April 5. During the weeklong event, participating restaurants are offering fixed price menus of $26 per person at casual establishments or $38 per person at fine dining establishments. Borsting said that Eat LBC’s biggest challenge moving forward is increasing the number of participating restaurants. “I would love to see 100 restaurants on board next year,” she said. While the event currently boasts several well-known corporate and nonprofit sponsors such as the Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, PBS SoCal and JetBlue Airways, Borsting hopes to see the City of Long Beach get involved in Eat LBC next year. “The Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau is one of our sponsors, but I would personally like to see the city get behind it the way L.A. gets behind its restaurant week and the way Orange County gets behind its [event],” she said. ■
March 18-31, 2014 The biggest challenge Hanley and Samartan face is making time to grow their business, Samartan said. “You’re not moving forward if you’re stuck every single day running your business. You have to give yourself some space . . . to be able to step away and look at the big picture,” she elaborated. When the two do find time to contemplate the future of Frosted, Samartan said they hope to perhaps partner with other stores, such as sweet shops, to market their products. ■
Tamara Leiting (left) And Elizabeth Kobliha Long Beach Vintage Etc. 737 Pine Ave. • 562/436-9495 • www.lbvintage.com
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Nancy Hanley (left) And Stacia Samartan Frosted Cupcakery 4817 E. 2nd St. • 562/987-1080 • www.frostedcupcakery.com
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hen Nancy Hanley and her daughter, Stacia Samartan, were both at crossroads in their careers, they decided to turn a family pastime – baking – into a business. In 2005, both Samartan and Hanley were looking for a change, Samartan recalled. She had spent six and a half years working in the fashion industry, while Hanley had spent about eight years running her own dancewear retail store. Both were ready to move on. On a trip to the East Coast, Samartan noticed that cupcake shops were becoming popular, and she was inspired to pursue the trend in California. Her mother recalled, “Stacia said, ‘I know this is something coming to the West Coast and I think this would be a perfect fit for us.’ It was perfect timing.” That year, the mother-daughter duo opened Frosted Cupcakery in Belmont Shore, specializing in homemade cupcakes. “My generation was [full of] bakers who baked from scratch,” Hanley said. “I realized that my daughter’s generation thought cupcakes and frosting came out of a box,” she continued, explaining that she knew making products from scratch would be a draw for the business. “We knew from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be iffy – that this would be a success because for a lot of people this tasted like home,” Hanley emphasized. Most of the cupcake varieties found in the store are adapted from family recipes and the women “pick flavors that are recognizable; we don’t do anything too crazy,” Samartan explained. Building on the success of the Belmont Shore store, Samartan and Hanley opened locations in Hollywood and Hermosa Beach, although they have since closed the Hollywood location. “Our business has morphed and changed a lot over the years,” Samartan reflected. “Our volume has been constantly growing,” Samartan said, noting that Frosted now offers a variety of cupcake-inspired desserts such as mini cupcakes and cupcake sandwiches. Higher volume of product led to the need for more staff, Hanley said, so now it is not just the two of them running daily business operations, but other employees occupy managerial roles as well.
fter years of collecting vintage pieces and working for other antique dealers, Elizabeth Kobliha and Tamara Leiting combined their mutual passion for all things vintage to open Long Beach Vintage Etc. The two met a few years ago when Leiting walked into a shop Kobliha worked at. They bonded over their love of collecting vintage items. “This is something we have both been doing on our own our whole lives,” Kobliha said. “We shared the same passion and vision . . . and then our paths kind of crossed,” she added. Eventually, Kobliha was ready to move on from the store, which coincided with Leiting’s desire to open a shop. “She used to come in like clockwork and buy up all my merchandise every week that I had in that store,” Kobliha recalled. “Eventually it turned into a friendship and we hatched this plan to open our own store,” she said. Last month, the two opened Long Beach Vintage Etc. on Pine Avenue, filling onethird of the 5,000-square-foot space with their own items and renting the rest of the space to other vintage merchants. Instead of approaching established dealers, Kobliha and Leiting asked other collectors and former customers to consider renting stalls at the store. “We have about five people that have done this before and everybody else is pretty much new to this game,” Kobliha said. Because Leiting is also a plumbing contractor, she spends less time in the shop during the day than Kobliha. Leiting often works early mornings or evenings to set up and to “do a lot of the moving and decorating,” Leiting said. Kobliha focuses on office work and manages the store and its dealers. “You might see me more than you see Tammy, but whatever you see [in the store] is a result of Tammy’s hand,” she said, explaining that most of the merchandising is Leiting’s work. The biggest challenge of running a new business is unforeseen issues and costs, Kobliha said. For example, she explained, “We just got popped for a huge Edison deposit for our electricity for like $500 and . . . I did not budget for that.” Still, things seem to be going well so far, Kobliha said. “Our grand opening was March 8th and we had a phenomenal turnout,” she said. The pair’s biggest goal, Leiting said, is “to increase sales.” She added that even though they have only been in business a short time, she is ready to expand the shop. Kobliha said she hopes in the future to have a space in the store dedicated to large, unusual finds. ■