Our friend Chris Bettig stopped by the Poketo Store yesterday… we are scheming up some amazingly huge plans once we get these doors open! Stay tuned.

A stroll around the Arts District, new art happening, endlessly it seems…

Poketo crew, Joe and Charlie…

If you haven’t heard yet, we’re opening up Poketo’s first brick and mortar retail shop here in the Arts District of Downtown LA! This has been a dream forever, we are super excited, and will be posting more as things develop. But, we gave Kyle and Bobby of LAimyours.com and thefoxisblack.com the scoop on the construction and plans. Kyle of LAIY did an interview with us, check it out here… and stay tuned for the BIG party… hopefully by early Summer!

Poketo’s new retail and gallery will be at 820 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013… Right next to Apolis Activism, Wurstkuche, Pie Hole and all the fun stuff in the Arts District.

There have been some funny instances along the way too… like, Joe Poketo here trying to chase a bird out of the space with a handmade bird catcher. I felt like I was in an episode of Survivor or something…

Love this shot of Charlie Poketo here going through details of the buildout with our GC Matt Cole…

And here is the design/build/GC… man who can do it all, Matt Cole of Delta… going through the plans and checking things off his list.

This is one of the many upcoming profiles of our neighbors in the Arts District of LA. It’s an area of Downtown LA that has seen a huge explosion of growth recently. Residents, creative business’, artists, designers, and entrepreneurs have been moving into this once sleepy district. Everyone living and working here are naturally bonded, there is a strong sense of ownership, a sense of looking out for each other and supporting each other here to make sure our community thrives. Once an area that was mostly manufacturing and warehousing, it’s now a mix of artist studios, restaurants, coffee roasters, bars, cafes, boutiques, lofts and a renowned architecture school. We are seeing it grow and it’s nothing but exciting.

Poketo has been operating from a loft here since 2007, right before many of the current business’ moved in, right around the time change was happening…and if you may or may not have noticed on our Instagram, Poketo will be opening its first brick and mortar right here in the heart of it all. But, more on that later.

This is Jeremy of District Millworks. He runs a custom fabrication shop here in the Arts District, specializing in acquiring and breathing new life to reclaimed wood from across the country. Whether it’s wood from railroad depots in Alabama, old barn siding, bowling lanes in Nebraska, or old homes that no longer have a life… that wood ends up here at District Millworks. It’s right here in this seemingly cavernous, endless warehouse that he and his team design furniture and objects for homes, retail, restaurants, and commercial properties. Their latest endeavor, that newly opened, much talked about UMAMIcatessen in Downtown LA.

We got a rad tour of District Millworks… or rather, we ended up walking aimlessly and getting lost in the myriad of rooms in this huge space.

A view into the open sky courtyard…

We stumbled into areas most people won’t see. If you do go and visit (and you should), you’ll walk through their storefront showroom and will be instantly surrounded by beautiful, handcrafted furniture, tables, beds, and even a playful swing hung from 20 + foot tall ceilings. District Millworks designs and fabricates all their pieces here. You can pick what you like from their showroom, or you can come in with an idea… they’ll help you envision it… they’ll make it come to life.

More at DistrictMillworks.com.