Continental Shop sells British foods, music, videos and gifts, as well as travel arrangements to Great Britain and Europe. The shop was originally opened by the Ferencs, a Hungarian-British family, in 1938. The Clewer family purchased the business in 1967, and has operated it since, moving the shop a few times and finally settling at this address in 1991.
Hundreds of British movies and television shows are available for rent or purchase in the shop's extensive libraray. More than 3,000 imported food items are also available, from Heinz, Batchelors and Branston products to teas by Taylors of Harrogate, Yorkshire Teas, Jacksons of Piccadilly and London Tea Company. Many British cookies and crackers also line the shelves.
The Continental Shop's travel services primarily provide arrangements for Europe. As an airline consolidator, the shop can provide discount air travel, along with hotel bookings and rental cars. Arrangements can be made by fax, phone, email or by visiting the office in the back of the shop.
Tornavoz Music is located on 19th Street, just north of Broadway. It can be found in the self-contained Guitar Salon International (GSI) building, of which it is a part. Tornavoz, in business since 1990, distributes nylon-string guitars to retailers. It also offers some strings and cases. Its stock of brands includes Córdoba, Loriente, Ramírez and Sakurai-Kohno.
This is the corporate office for Aural Exploits. Aural Exploits is an online music store specializing in vinyl records. It carries many classic records and some modern ones. The company also offers automatic bulk discounts.
Music Sales is a recognized music publishing business focused on allowing easy licensing and downloading of music from all genres, domestic and internationally. Independently owned and operated, this is a web-based business.
SecondSpin.com is a place to sell, buy and trade music, movies and video games. The website started in 1996 and has opened several retail stores since, including this one at 14th Street and Wilshire. The shelves and racks are full of used CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays that are guaranteed to function. Music is arranged by style and artist with sections for rock, pop, jazz, world, country, rhythm and blues, easy listening and blues. A section near the front features the newest titles acquired by the store. Movies are arranged by genre, with a large section of television collections and foreign films. Some new titles are also sold here. Behind the counter, customers can find special editions, collectors editions and boxed sets. The store is also a Ticketmaster ticket purchase location. Cash or store credit is offered for selling used music and movies.
Cordoba Guitars is located just north of Broadway, in the self-contained Guitar Salon International (GSI) building, of which it is a part. Founded in 1997, Cordoba deals in the design and sale of nylon string acoustic guitars. Artists who use its guitars, include Bon Iver, Leonard Cohen, and The Decemberists. Products sold here, include the Iberia series, the Espana series, and the Artist series.
Vidiots is Santa Monica's local video store. The fun, small shop has a library of more than 40,000 videos and DVDs from a wide variety of genres, including independent, documentary, mainstream, Hong Kong, gay and lesbian, musical, animation, classic, cult, TV and experimental titles. Patty Polinger and Cathy Tauber, long-time friends, are the owners and operators of the store and say that it is the place to go to when you want to "talk movies." Vidiots introduced Vidiots Annex, which offers film study classes about everything from censorship in cinema to cartoon mythology to cult films, as well as free screenings every Saturday night at 8pm. It has been in business since 1985.
Santa Monica Music Center, located at 19th Street, is one of the oldest surviving family-owned music businesses in the area. Offering a wide choice of music classes, it's a musical haven for kids with the performing bug. Private instrumental instruction, singing lessons and performing workshops are offered to young adults. All of the classes are taught in the studio by professional musicians. The store carries a large selection of sheet music, books, DVDs, instruments, keyboards, strings, amplifiers and accessories. There's a Rent-To-Own program allowing virtually all of the payments to go toward the purchase of the instrument. A reason for its long-term success is the warm, friendly atmosphere, combined with quality customer service and music teachers.