Block Shop's First Brick and Mortar Store in LA's Atwater Village

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“Imagine if four sisters raised on Louisa May Alcott designed a Milanese apartment inside Dr. Doolittle’s snail,” says Hopie Stockman of Block Shop’s new headquarters—which happen to have a bronze snail as a front doorknob. The family textile and art company recently relocated from a showroom in LA’s Atwater Village to a nearby storefront that houses the shop up front and a workspace, full kitchen, and warehouse in the back. The look is delightfully fanciful as is the Block Shop way: “We turned away from the prevailing neutral, blond wood aesthetic of LA retail towards a symphony of color and joy and personal details.”

The business was founded 2012 by two of the Stockman sisters: Hopie is an artist who got her MBA from Harvard with a goal of founding a socially responsible enterprise. Her sister Lily, also a Harvard grad (in visual studies) spent a year studying in Jaipur, where they met the textile collective that they’ve been working with ever since. Lily is now a full-time artist, and Hopie and another sister, Grier, run Block Shop. The business is beyond-fair in its practices, invests 5 percent of profits into community initiatives in India and LA, and environmentally conscientious (details here).

“It was a major demo and build-out dreamed up by us sisters,” they write on Instagram of their first brick and mortar store. “We designed every last detail ourselves (on a tiny, bootstrapped budget).” Join us for a look.

Photography by Laure Joliet, unless noted, all courtesy of Block Shop (@blockshoptextiles).

the shop is at 3\2\15 glendale boulevard in atwater village in what was formerl 17 — Above: The shop is at 3215 Glendale Boulevard in Atwater Village in what was formerly a crystal boutique—and before that a coffin store. “We delight in the magic and macabre of it all,” says Hopie, “the combined energy feels otherworldly.”

curiouser and curiouser: the aforementioned snail knob was sculpted by hopie an 18 — Above: Curiouser and curiouser: The aforementioned snail knob was sculpted by Hopie and cast in bronze by their friend Imerio Palumbo.

block shop&#8\2\17;s home goods, art, and apparel are all designed to look 19 — Above: Block Shop’s home goods, art, and apparel are all designed to look good together. That’s their Trellis Rug (jute with woven wool detailing) under the bandana table. They use the mezzanine level for meeting with designers.

“It was very dark when we moved in—the walls were painted a deep purple with crimson details, there were lots of small storage rooms, and most of the windows were barred.” Hopie tells us. “It was quite a renovation: we knocked down walls, put internal windows in, and did the whole thing in four months, which I don’t advise.”

sisters grier and hopie stockman run the business: grier (left) is head of bran 20 — Above: Sisters Grier and Hopie Stockman run the business: Grier (left) is head of brand; Hopie is CEO and creative director: while nine months pregnant, she painted the parrots behind them, which pay tribute to the famous wild flock of nearby Pasadena.

The counter is topped with Rosso Francia marble sourced from a stone yard in the Valley. Local artist Guillermo Bert finished the front in Block Shop’s Poiret motif and created the finial around the mural. The blown glass Candy Ceiling Lamps are from Mille Fiori of Copenhagen, which has them made in Italy. Photograph by Block Shop.