My first weekend in Westwood, I walked by Aahs! The Ultimate Gift Store – and I didn’t even notice it. The second time I walked by, I’m pretty sure I didn’t notice it either.
On the outskirts of Westwood Village, Aahs blends into plain sight. While mannequins sporting bright clothing fill the store’s windows, I never really gave the shop a second glance. I always thought of the building as a little dim and rundown – not characteristics I normally associate with a long-lasting business.
Almost two quarters into my freshman year, I finally walked through the front door of Aahs for the first time. Immediately, a sense of nostalgia washed over me – a sense that could only be explained by the store’s long history in Westwood Village. The fading sign on top of the store should have been a dead giveaway of Aahs’ longevity, but what really convinced me was the sheer amount of inventory packed on the store’s shelves. It became obvious that Aahs had a storied history, but what was that history exactly?
Aahs opened in Los Angeles in 1981 and quickly grew to seven locations across Southern California. During the early- to mid-1980s, the store cemented itself as part of Westwood Village’s well-documented commercial boom. But now, there are only two stores left – one of which is the silver-roofed building on the corner of Westwood Boulevard.
Chloe Childs is one of the few remaining Aahs staff members in Westwood. I approached Childs on a sunny Sunday morning after watching her patiently listen to a young boy excitedly inquire about a toy in stock.
“Who better to ask about the history of Aahs?” I thought to myself.
Childs, a fourth-year psychobiology student, has been an Aahs sales associate since October and told me about the journey that led her behind the Aahs counter. Childs said she stumbled across Aahs during its busiest month after walking up and down the streets of Westwood handing out her resume to different businesses.
“They looked like they needed help because it was so hectic for Halloween,” Childs said. “So I literally just asked if they were hiring.”
Her boldness paid off, and she was hired on the spot after a quick interview. Halloween is always Aahs’ busiest time of year, Childs said, when the store comes to life with students looking for last-minute costumes. Childs said she got the job right away because Aahs was significantly understaffed. According to Childs, Aahs averages about 30 to 50 customers a day, but Halloween brings a wave of people that would not have walked in otherwise. Immediately, Childs was thrown into the Halloween fray.
Although Aahs is similar to other customer service jobs she’s held in the past, Childs said the store’s eclectic inventory keeps the gig interesting. Eclectic is definitely one way to put it. I spotted a furry green Grinch costume and a book titled “52 Things to Do While You Screw” two aisles apart during our conversation.
This silly gift store on the edge of town has just enough customers to stay open year after year. Jasleen Bhasin, Aahs’ current supervisor, said customers keep returning to the gift store because of its low prices.
“You don’t have to spend too much money over here to bring happiness to someone,” Bhasin said.
Forty-one years have passed since Aahs first opened up shop, but former customers still remember the store from its golden days in the 1980s.
According to John Nuckols, executive vice president and chief strategic officer of the LA Opera, Westwood was the place to be on weekends during the ’80s. With Aahs’ large assortment of unconventional products, the gift store held visitors’ attention before and after attending one of Westwood Village’s many movie premieres.
Although he mostly went into Aahs to burn time before screenings, Nuckols said he purchased a few greeting cards over the years. While I didn’t think twice when I spotted a card with, “I f*cking love you!” scrawled across the front at Aahs, Nuckols said such an item would have been an anomaly 40 years ago. This unreserved energy became yet another reason why customers flocked to Aahs, Nuckols added.
Musician Timothy Nishimoto was one such Aahs patron. Before Nishimoto was a performer with the band Pink Martini, he frequented Aahs during the ’80s too. As a young adult, Nishimoto had fun perusing the aisles of the “crazy huge party store.” When I asked what drew him back to Aahs visit after visit, Nishimoto was quick to respond.
“It (Aahs) just seemed open and free. I remember I hadn’t been out of the closet for very long when I first moved there, so it was definitely a place that I felt comfortable,” Nishimoto said. “I don’t even really know if they had a lot of gay-specific things for sale there, but I do remember it having an open vibe – just open to everyone and anyone.”
Aahs made members of the LGBTQ+ community like himself feel represented, Nishimoto explained, and became a quasi-safe space where he and other members of the LGBTQ+ community were accepted.
But Aahs’ early success in the 1980s was later impacted by the flux of Westwood Village. While Westwood had low violent crime rates then as compared to other LA areas, a shooting on the streets of the Village contributed to the neighborhood’s decline in popularity. On Jan. 30, 1988, 27-year-old graphic artist Karen Toshima was shot and killed walking down Broxton Avenue. According to the Los Angeles Times, Toshima was caught in a crossfire between rival gangs.
After Toshima died, people started to avoid Westwood, Nuckols said. He vividly remembers the shift in the neighborhood’s reputation.
“People didn’t feel safe anymore,” Nuckols said to me.
Bhasin echoed this sentiment. The whole Village felt the effects of gang violence, she said. Because gang activity in Westwood was rare, the shooting created a collective panic. Westwood’s popularity declined dramatically along with the local economy, Bhasin added.
“It did affect everyone in the Village,” she said. “It did make people feel fear.”
On top of declining perceptions of the Village’s safety, the establishment of newer, upscale shopping centers around LA created competition that Westwood could not keep up with, the Daily Bruin reported in 2015. This drop in patronage triggered an economic decline that is still prevalent today. The retail vacancy rate in Westwood Village has jumped to almost 40%, according to 2021 data from the LA Department of City Planning.
Despite efforts to revitalize Westwood from multiple community-led organizations, it seems Aahs has yet to reach the level of acclaim it acquired during the 1980s. When I visited Aahs for the first time in February, I was the only customer in the store. I walked up and down the aisles, silently thanking whoever decided to play music over the speakers to conceal the store’s silence.
While the Aahs location in Westwood has managed to stay open for over 40 years, customers have mixed feelings about the business. Since 2005, it has accumulated over 60 Yelp ratings of two stars or below, bringing the average to just 2 1/2 stars.
I contacted Aahs owner Jack Bhasin multiple times for comment while writing this story, but he did not respond to my requests for an interview.
The only two Aahs locations still open today are in Torrance and Westwood Village. According to Jasleen Bhasin, the other branches closed because the leases ended on the properties.
As I see it, the story of Aahs is still being written. In 2019, the Westwood store seemingly teetered on the edge of existence after the Santa Monica Mirror reported it was closing only for the paper to later correct the claim as Aahs lived to see another day.
Now, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aahs is writing a new – still uncertain – chapter in its history. Like countless other non-essential businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the gift store to close its doors completely for four months. Aahs lost many employees during the beginning of the pandemic, and when the gift shop finally opened again, it was extremely understaffed, according to Jasleen Bhasin.
With a large percentage of the UCLA population studying remotely last school year, the store experienced another obstacle in its history, as many of Aahs’ customers come from the Bruin community. But Jasleen Bhasin sees a brighter future for the store as students fill campus again.
“We just need the support of all the students and the people who live around the Village,” said Jasleen Bhasin.
With students back in Westwood and less strict COVID-19 restrictions, more customers have been visiting Aahs recently, she added.
After years of economic decline in Westwood and a raging pandemic, Aahs has remained standing for 40 years. Will it endure for 40 more?
The last time I walked out its front door, I was faced with the same decision every customer must make after exiting the store. Standing on the street corner, I had to decide: turn back and head home or continue straight across Westwood’s main thoroughfare. I chose to carry on ahead. With time, we’ll see what decision awaits Aahs.