Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jane Hoover. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Jane, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Back in the 80’s Leslie Carlson sold vegetables in a train caboose in Topanga, the shop was called Topanga Home-Grown. The shop was there for over a year then closed to making room for a parking lot for a restaurant.
Topanga Homegrown reopened in September 2000. We were one of the first businesses to open in Pine Tree Circle. Leslie and I decided to bring back Topanga Homegrown without the vegetables! We kept the original logo as people were still wearing the original shirts.
I had the experience of running a store and she did the books, something I hate to do! We had Lisa Zook who also was a good friend and willing to jump in.
The first Christmas was amazing, We were slammed and gift wrapped everything, curling ribbons by hand which I had taught everyone how to do. By the end of Christmas everyone had band aids on their fingers and Leslie didn’t wrap any of her family gifts as she was exhausted and didn’t want to gift wrap another gift!
It was all very exciting and we continued on from there. We made it thru the recession in 2008 and kept on going. Leslie retired about five years ago and Lisa went to work in Santa Monica. It was an amazing time we all had together.
The idea of the shop was to be primarily a gift and clothing shop with reasonable prices and while we are wrapping the gift the customer will look for themselves.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Jane Hoover. I am from the Midlands in England born on a farm. I spent my younger years in the southern part of England with my mother and went to boarding school in Haslemere. I spent some time in Australia and New Zealand. When I returned to England nothing much had changed so I was offered a job as a nanny in California, in L.A. I worked with the family for two years then got a job in retail in Santa Monica. I worked at Sara’s on Montana Ave. for 13 years learning display, management and buying. Spending time in Mexico and Bali designing and buying. This all prepared me to open Topanga Homegrown with
Leslie.
Topanga Homegrown is fun! We have a good time with all the customers and have known many of them and their families for years. We have watched children go through school and into adulthood even marry and have children of their own. We have returning customers from around the world that we see when they visit every year on vacation or to visit family.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Topanga Canyon is know for its beauty and spiritual energy. It attracts many natural healers and people looking to escape to nature. Unfortunately Topanga Canyon is prone to large fires and mud slides often closing Topanga down with evacuations that can go on for weeks or months. We have a fire season which seems to have got longer due to climate change. The Santa Ana winds kick up making it very windy and dangerous. We keep the shop doors open as long as possible so people can come in and talk especially if they live alone and we try to know the latest updates on the situation.
We had a big slide this year from all the rain, closing down the lower part of Topanga Canyon cutting off any access to the beach and Pacific Coast Highway. It took just over three months to finally get it cleared. Many customers could not reach the shop but the ones that could did and were amazing support for us and many other businesses in Topanga.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
There have been many times in my personal life where I have had to rely on people working at the shop to step up for me. My partner Mark became ill with cancer in September and passed away in April. The store and the customers were amazing, so supportive. It was a long road but I kept working when I could and kept up with the ordering for the shop.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Topangahomegrown.net
- Instagram: Topanga Homegrown
- Facebook: Topanga Homegrown
