What’s Up on Pico? Rehab Vintage and Bargain Fair Move In

Have you checked out the area around Pico and Rimpau boulevards lately? It’s a street in revitalization mode – with new planted medians sprouting palm trees and the Lowe’s Home Improvement Center now topped by a slew of chain stores (Pet Smart, Ross Dress for Less, and soon a Smart & Final. ) Even better, a few choice new stores have moved from the Beverly shopping area to make their home on Pico Boulevard – namely Rehab Vintage and Bargain Fair. 

Rehab Vintage, in business for some 22 years as Sonrisa on Beverly Blvd, has moved into a cavernous warehouse-style building across from Lowes, at 4619 W. Pico Blvd. Operated by owner Patrick Fraleigh, the  store offers an eclectic mix of  mid-to-late 20th Century furniture and accessories for those who want something a bit different. Specializing in steelcase and mid-century furniture, neon channel letters, and unique signage, the Vintage Rehab crew collects and restores some great pieces, many sold via their Rehab Vintage website online.

“We like our new location, but need to let people know where we’ve moved,” Fraleigh told the Buzz. “We’re a bit off the beaten ‘design’ track, but this neighborhood is really shaping up. We’ve had people coming all the way from Mar Vista to visit the Lowe’s across the street  – and then they find we’re here too.”  The shop is open six days a week 11 am to 7 pm, and Sundays from 12 to 5 pm. Parking is on the street.

Bargain Fair, which most of us know from its longtime location at the corner of Fairfax and Beverly, sells restaurant supplies and home cookware to the food industry, restaurants and the basic cook. Stocked full with dishware, chef’s tools, glassware, some appliances and pots and pans, the new Bargain Fair location is clean and tidy and has just about everything you may be looking for to equip your kitchen. It is a well-organized showroom where you can pick things off the shelves, and prices are extremely reasonable.

“We’re getting busy,” owner Sheida Pourat told the Buzz. “People are starting to realize we are here, and we’ve brought in lots of new merchandise.” She opened the new Pico location because her store on Fairfax, which has been there since 1979, will have to move by the end of 2014 due to a new residential development being built in the old Fairfax Theater location.

Many Hancock Park residents don’t think about going south to Pico to shop, but the relatively reduced traffic and ease of parking could make it the new hub for those simple errands.

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