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The Sole of Old Oakland
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Tina "Tamale" Ramos
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Last Updated on September, 25 2008 at 11:22 AM
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I sometimes hear quirky stories that are actually true. It’s the nature
of my family and friends to be entertaining. This is a story of a young
boy from the “old neighborhood” who had his wish come true. Over 40
years ago, Old Oakland used to be the Latino barrio. Close your eyes
and imagine the Fruitvale District in West Oakland. It was a thriving
community of single family homes filled with down home folks, schools,
businesses (including my family’s, La Borinquena), and tons of kids
playing in Jefferson Square Park.
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Gustavo Loza at the Shoe Spot
I sometimes hear quirky stories that are actually true. It’s the nature of my family and friends to be entertaining. This is a story of a young boy from the “old neighborhood” who had his wish come true. Over 40 years ago, Old Oakland used to be the Latino barrio. Close your eyes and imagine the Fruitvale District in West Oakland. It was a thriving community of single family homes filled with down home folks, schools, businesses (including my family’s, La Borinquena), and tons of kids playing in Jefferson Square Park.
Redevelopment changed all that, with eminent domain forcing most folks to East Oakland when I was a baby. Yet, I love hearing stories of the “old neighborhood,” of what was, what could have been, and what some things became.
Gustavo Loza immigrated to Oakland from Mexico as a five-year old boy with his family in 1964. He was sent almost daily to shop at our corner grocery store. Even as a tot, he was able to order and count change with no problem. My father, Antonio Ramos, got a big kick out of that and they became friends. When he turned 12, Loza worked for my father, helping him clean up the bakery.
Later, when our business moved to our present location on 7th Street, Loza worked in our tortilla factory and restaurant. In his late teens, Loza changed professions. He started selling shoes down the street at Gallencamp’s. It wasn’t that he minded the grocery business. Loza wears a hard to fit EE shoe size. He spent hours on Washington Street looking for shoes at Sid’s, Thom McCann’s and JC Penney’s. It was a quest that ultimately led him to a new career.
But there was more to the story. Loza and my father had been in cahoots all along. My father was running our tortilla factory on the corner of 7th & Jefferson with our retail business the next building over. He was always threatening to quit making tortillas but no one ever believed him since he’d been doing it since 1958.
One day in 1997, my father literally pulled the plug on the tortilla factory. Loza reappeared and began dismantling the factory. We still didn’t know what was going on. My mother broke the news. Loza was going to have a shoe store in Old Oakland.
The Shoe Spot took over the corner of the building. Large windows surfaced -- windows that I had never seen uncovered. I found out the building had once housed an ice cream shop. It was an ideal spot for a retail store -- with plenty of showroom space and a stockroom in the back. Here we are 11 years later, and Loza is still doing the shoe salesman routine. He deals with the issues all small business owners encounter, the rollercoaster of not knowing what his sales will be from month to month and what the needs of his area will be.
He does things the old way. Loza will discuss what your needs are, measure your feet if needed and even help you try on the shoes. He always has a shoehorn in his back pocket.
He briefly left the neighborhood a few years back to open a shop at the Fruitvale Transit Village in East Oakland. But we pulled him back. Sometimes when I walk by, I catch Loza looking out over the neighborhood and I wonder what he’s thinking. He says that so much has changed, but he’s still waiting for Old Oakland to return to its former glory.
The Shoe Spot
598 7th St
(between Clay St. & Jefferson St.)
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 465-1060
Check out The Shoe Spot’s booth at the upcoming street festival Rockridge Out & About http://www.rockridgeoutandabout.com/ on Sept 28 from 11am – 6pm
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OAKLAND
SHOP TALK
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