“Good luck, good luck, good luck!” owner Carla Diaz chirped out as yet another customer purchased a blind box Labubu, a sealed container that holds a surprise item as part of a collection, one of the many items sold at her shop Pickaparty.
The brick-and-mortar store located in Whittier and founded in 2023 has a nice and calming atmosphere. Ambient music filled the store as all types of customers shopped as working mothers still in uniform brought in their tween daughters to purchase toys using their allowance money to young couples in search of Sonny Angels, Labubus, and Smiskis.
“To me, there’s nothing more than being a catalyst for joy and connection, there’s nothing better than watching this, a mom and a daughter.”
Carla takes the first cash payment of the day from the mother and daughter whom she remembers from the day prior. Making sure to perform a ritual she started long ago, blessing the first cash sale with the sign of the cross.
Pickaparty, like many small businesses, got its start on TikTok – a trend that is on the rise since the app blossomed in pop culture during the pandemic. Carla and her husband, Graham Barnard, sold their inventory on the social media platform for roughly two years.
“For some reason, someone was reporting us for guns or something… random,” said Carla, letting out a small giggle, recalling the memory.
With the reports on the account, Pickaparty lost their access to go live on TikTok. Feeling stressed since it was their main source of income while working remotely, the next step was moving onto YouTube, where Carla and Graham continued to livestream their online sales, pop-up events at the Paramount SwapMeet, and their daily life.
“That ended up being a blessing because we started growing a lot on YouTube,” Carla said.
A new home
Since the couple does go live frequently, they were able to capture the moment they first heard about the opportunity of opening a physical storefront.
While on live eating tacos, Carla received a call from her sister, who is also a business owner selling antique kitchen items in the shop next door. She let Carla know that the prospective tenants ghosted the owner, and the couple had the opportunity to check the space out and speak with the owner.
“I literally tell the live stream, ‘Guys, we might get a store.'” Carla emphasized how crazy of a coincidence it was that the live captured the first step towards what Pickaparty has become.
“We drive over here, and we talk to the owner. The owner is very nice, and he likes us,” she said. “The owners were like, Well, whoever sends the deposit first will get the space, i and in that moment, I just Zelled him.”
New friends
With a turnaround of just three weeks, Pickaparty held a soft opening in December 2024, where roughly 100 people showed up. The following month, in January, Pickaparty officially opened, and over 400 people showed up.
Still on the high of a successful soft and grand opening, YouTube personalities Remi Cruz and Oli Abbas, with over 5 million followers across their social media plattorms, casually walked into the shop as Carla was on live.
“Because I’m always working, I never have time to really consume a lot of content. I am always content, you know?
So l didn’t know who they were; they were just really nice. I treated them just how I treat everybody.”
The livestream viewers were able to identify Remi just from her voice, spamming the chat with “Carla, that’s Remi!” Carla turned over the camera to show the two, and the viewers went nuts.
After exchanging information, Carla, Remi, and Oli held a separate livestream after shop hours a few days later.
“She (Remi) wanted to vlog in the store, so she came in one night after we closed. She vlogged, then we did a live stream sale.”
The business saw a big rush of new
customers after this collaboration.
“It was really cool seeing communities come together. A lot of people from the Pickaparty community had watched their content. They were excited to interact with Remi.” With the grand opening having
roughly 400 customers show up, Carla felt prepared for the new rush. A follower even sent Carla a private message saying, “Hey this is huge, prepare yourself. Buy triple of what you need to buy.”
“I’ve always said everything that we do and everything that’s happened to us is because of our followers.”
More than a toy
People will shop throughout the livestream, and Carla will open their blind boxes for them.
“It’s a whole community, it’s cool because people always question if they want to open them themselves.”
Carla explained that if a viewer buys a brown Labubu, but already has that color, someone in the chat could buy it from them. They would then be able to open a new box
“What I’ve done is people come in, and they’re like ‘Can I buy a full case?’ and I could sell it and I could mark it up and make a bunch of money, but I’d rather everybody gets one and is happy.”
Carla continues, tears building up in her eyes, “It’s so much more than just a toy. I’m not delusional. I know that they’re toys and I know they’re collectibles but for me, it’s more like a catalyst to bring joy to people, you know, to like heal. So many of us, it’s what we’re trying to do. Heal our inner children.
Quickly wiping the tears away from her eyes, Carla smiles widely at the young couple approaching the register.
“Ready to check out?”
The ding of the approved contactless payment fills the room.
“Good luck, good luck, and good luck!”
