Business enterprises making news in La Jolla specialize in art, furniture, plants, interior decor and empanadas. Here’s a look.
Girard Avenue Marketplace
Girard Avenue Marketplace isn’t new — it’s been in The Village for years — but it has a new owner and a new direction.
“It’s going to be a great blend of interior designers, antiques and home decor,” said owner Bradley McDonald, who took over in June and is looking to increase the number of vendors selling their wares there. He has been remodeling the interior and plans to renovate the exterior as well.
The store, at 7505 Girard, opened in 2019 after Girard Avenue Collection closed in September the previous year.
“It’s a mish-mash of 17 new vendors,” McDonald said. “We’re trying to make it like it was as Girard Avenue Collection. I want to bring back that glory, but under a different model.”
McDonald, a vendor himself, has connections to other dealers and interior designers and brought them on board when he took over the store.
“I want it to be a space that is always evolving and changing every time you visit,” McDonald said. “You have to evolve with seasons, what clients want and the trends. My goal is to have 20 vendors bringing in new inventory all the time. I want it to be like a gallery.”
The Plant Therapist
The Plant Therapist, a landscape architecture and design company founded by La Jolla resident Ethan Eliazar, has been gradually expanding since 2020.
Originally intended to be a workshop where Eliazar taught participants how to care for plants and make succulent arrangements, the business has expanded to creating terrariums and ways to bring plants into the home.
After eventually shifting to doing larger-scale design, Eliazar now works with residential and commercial clients building green walls and adding plant life to homes and/or yards.
“I have my own personal go-to plants, but everyone wants something different,” he said. “I do free consultations any time I work with anyone because while they might have ideas, the reality of what might work in the space is a whole different story. Everyone’s space is different.”
He said he also works on lighting and other features.
The Plant Therapist’s website is being rebuilt, but it can be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling (805) 440-6932.
Rove Concepts
La Jolla is now home to Rove Concepts, a high-end furniture seller founded in 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, initially as an e-commerce, direct-to-consumer brand. It has since expanded to the brick-and-mortar realm.
The La Jolla showroom is at 7611 Girard Ave. on a block full of design, rug and furniture stores. It is one of only four Rove Concepts stores in the United States.
Rove offers a hip option that allows for different pricing on items. On the website, the hardwood-frame Reya curved sectional is priced at $4,999, but $3,499 for .
“Rove Concepts was conceived through inspiration from my grandfather’s ion for furniture design,” Art Lee, the company’s founder and chief executive, wrote in his LinkedIn profile. “I took an idea and adapted it to a modern e-commerce business model.”
The company is offering a deal on its annual hip. For $200, customers get 30 percent discounts, a voucher on purchases and special sales.
Art Gallery Monti
Showcasing the work of German artist Dusko Pavic, Art Gallery Monti opened in early January at 1049 Prospect St.
For the time being, Pavic will be the only artist showing there, according to gallery attendant Alli Turrell, speaking for Pavic, who does not speak English.
“He does really beautiful, bright landscape imagery,” Turrell said. “He has been successful in and always dreamed of coming to the States, so it worked out really well to have him show here.”
She said Pavic was “inspired by La Jolla” and wanted to have a space here. He moved to San Diego three months ago.
“When I paint, I use a lot of energy,” Pavic said in a statement translated into English. “It’s like my inner feelings are getting expressed into the outer world. In return, I feel free, rejuvenated, and the new painting gives me again more power and strength to create a new painting.”
For now, everything that Art Gallery Monti displays and sells will be Pavic’s original pieces, which are made in a studio offsite, Turrell said.
Learn more at artgallerymonti.com.
Empanada Kitchen
Though Empanada Kitchen has been open on Pearl Street only a month and half, it has had a presence in La Jolla for eight years.
Owner Matias Rigali started selling his traditional Argentine empanadas (baked or fried turnovers filled with meats, cheeses and/or vegetables) at the La Jolla Open Aire Market in 2016. “I have a strong emotional tie to La Jolla,” he said.
Soon after, he opened his first brick-and-mortar restaurant in downtown San Diego, followed by a North Park location and then a commercial kitchen so empanadas could be shipped nationwide.
The new location at 613 Pearl in La Jolla has ed them.
Rigali, a native of Argentina, came to San Diego 10 years ago with the hope of bringing some of his culture with him.
“My objective was to serve a traditional Argentinean food with traditional flavors,” according to Rigali, who added that he gets his empanada dough frozen from Argentina. “I wanted to make a product like what I had back home.”
Many of the restaurant’s empanadas have traditional flavors, but others are more Americanized, such as the bacon and egg and the “hot wing” style.
“The empanada is a very versatile food,” Rigali said. “We like to play with flavors but keep the traditional roots.”
Learn more at empanada-kitchen.com.
La Jolla Business Roundup is published monthly by the La Jolla Light. Send your business news to staff writer Ashley Mackin-Solomon at [email protected]. ◆
