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# Cool beans: UnUrban owner wears heart on her cup sleeve
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/cool-beans-unurban-owner-wears-heart-on-her-cup-sleeve/
- Published: 2006-05-08T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:42:21.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Business, Pico, #archive-import

PICO BOULEVARD — Having been recognized by the Chamber of Commerce as a steward of community and the environment, Pam Stollings of UnUrban — a coffeehouse, community center and performance space on the east end of town — said she is humbled, grateful and inspired to make her business more than just a place to buy a caffe latte.

However, Stollings also feels a bit like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar — embarrassed and borderline apologetic — as if she doesn’t deserve the recognition, considering she has no choice but to subscribe to a sustainable, environmentally friendly business plan.

“You know, I told (members of the chamber) at the awards, ‘Wow!

It almost feels as if we got this by accident,’ because we have such a low profit margin and such a small business, we can’t afford to waste,” said the 40-year-old proprietor, as she sat in the back of UnUrban sipping on some espresso. Surrounded by furniture from a hundred garage sales, all the different styles somehow seem to mesh well in Stollings’ eclectic, free-flowing scheme. Colorful paper flowers hang overhead, and the rainbow-colored walls are covered with abstract paintings and odd knickknacks that her customers bring in from time to time.

“We’re always trying to recycle or reuse things,” Stollings continued. “I don’t think I’ve bought a new piece of furniture since we opened. People just come in and bring us things they’ve found in garage sales or wherever. But it did make me feel really good (to win the Sustainable Quality Award). Being with the others who were honored, they really inspired me to want to do more.”

A former ballet dancer who spent time in Baghdad performing songs from “Cats,” Stollings created UnUrban 12 years ago as a place for artists like herself to come together and network, perform and support one another.

Two business partners and a few headaches later, UnUrban has evolved into a community center, where customers are like family and Stollings the nurturing, zany, fun-loving sister who is always ready to try something new. There’s open mic night on Friday, poetry on Wednesday, music on Saturday, and in between, community groups and businesses associations host meetings — all free of charge.

“It’s been really tough over the years, working 100 hours a week, always with the threat that something was going to close us down, whether it be the building being sold or Starbucks moving into town,” Stollings said. “But, through it all, we’re still here.”

Stollings went to work early last week to speak with the Daily Press about — what else? — coffee. Stollings also shared what its like to be a small business owner in Santa Monica, her days walking on stilts, and more.

How did you come up with the name for the coffee house?

“Well, we’re on PIco and Urban. So it’s kind of a play on that. Plus, I think of urban as being this corporate, city, uptight vibe and we’re the opposite of that … We’re very relaxed, very homey, and for me, this is such a transient city in Los Angeles, that when people come here it’s a comfortable space where you can come and talk with people, meet new people. It feels really safe, and we’re just down to earth people here.”

Why Santa Monica? “I’ve always been partial to the Westside. I remember when I used to go to the promenade when it was all these independent shops. Now it’s just totally blown up. I’ve always thought that Santa Monica had a good community feel and felt that it was a safer community, pedestrian-friendly. It took us a long time to find the right spot. We were looking at Abbot Kinney, other neighborhoods, but most were already built up. But when we came here, there was really nothing going on in this sleepy little area for a few years, very quiet. It was the perfect little spot for a community, neighborhood place. Immediately, the neighborhood embraced us and I think we’ve been a big part in bringing this side of Pico to life.”

What’s it like being on this stretch of Pico, just on the outskirts of the city by the 1-10? “We coined this area Pico Village. It’s all little independent shops, with the owners in their shops every day that you can go and talk to. I think people like that, that they’re not dealing with ‘Hi, Mr. Corporate.’People like having that relationship with the owner, someone whom they can go to for advice. It’s part of the American dream. I’m on the board for the Pico organization and I’ve been doing a lot with them in trying to promote Pico … We’ve been trying for the last four years to band the over- 360 businesses together and try to have some community. We’re the last independent corridor of businesses in Santa Monica and we really try to keep everyone together, but it’s hard. It’s such a long awkward stretch of businesses, a lot of different types of service industry businesses. It’s not just a retail section where everyone has the same goal in mind. We have a lot of different stuff going on. It’s been a lot of hard work. I’ve been trying to get parking spaces for our employees, trying to work it out with the neighborhood. Now I feel I want to get involved in more environmental issues; put it all together.”

How does the coffee shop match the vision you had when you helped create it 12 years ago?

“You know, it is definitely still a work in progress. We are evolving and I think that’s part of why we’ve been able to survive. We’ve been able to change and morph into whatever we’re needed for and we’ve kind of been rolling with that. So, I’m still waiting to see what’s going to happen with this. I had no plan. There was no design. It’s just kind of happening … I’m just about being out there for the community. A lot of the local kids have had their birthday parties here, whatever people want, I am open for any ideas, and I’m always glad when people come here and want to do events. We’ve had some political events here. Sundays, we have some seniors come and do “Almost Vaudeville.” It’s great, totally professional. There’s just something for everyone here.”

Where did you grow up and how did you get involved in dance?

“I was about five years old in Cleveland, Ohio, and I was dancing with this hard-core Russian ballet company. I did that for most of my teens and then I started eating. I got really hungry and, when I was 18, I came out here and started my first big job, which was a dance tour to Baghdad for six months. I did dinner theater at this place called the Moulin Rouge. I was 18, I didn’t know. It was straight out of cabaret. There was this German juggling couple and this Flamenco dancing family and Turkish bel-lydance group. We were the headliners, this American company doing a review. We did a number from ‘Cats,’ we did a Spanish number, and ‘Flashdance,’ which was all the craze back then. I’ve been to Amman, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, all over Italy, I’ve been to Japan a few times doing costume theater. I’ve done pretty much everything, walked on stilts and juggled, did shows.”

What happened with the ballet? “Well, in New York, if your weren’t six feet tall and 85 pounds and looked like a boy, you weren’t getting into a major company, and I knew that at 16\. I had too many curves. I moved out here and decided to do other kinds of dance and branch out on my own. I did hair for a while, working as a cosmetologist. I worked in restaurants while being a dancer, fine dining, the whole gamut of restaurant and dancing jobs. They kind of run side by side. I kind of put those things to use. I was working at Cafe ’50s and these guys weren’t much older than me. So if they were running a restaurant, I could run a restaurant. I really didn’t know what I was doing, learned all my lessons the hard way, but you figure it out. I’ve been willing to make adjustments, take my penalties and pull my chin up and keep going. I’m getting there.”

How do you drink your coffee? “I used to be a really, really, super hard-core coffee drinker — before the ulcer started bleeding (laughing). So now I have one cup a day … I have a two-ounce shot of espresso with a dash of half and half and a little foam. Actually, I stopped drinking coffee for a long time. That happens to a lot of people here. You think they’re hard-core coffee drinkers and the next thing you know I won’t see them for a few months and they’ll come back and order a green tea. But they come back.”

Where do you get your coffee? “Use a local coffee grinder. I try to use all local vendors as much as possible. That’s hard because the little companies aren’t around anymore. There used to be a lot of these little, family-owned coffee houses in almost every neighborhood. They’re all gone. Anastasia’s (Asylum) is gone now. They were one of our mentors … I get coffee every other day from our grinders, so it’s fresh. We try to have really good, comforting coffee and nice, old homestyle brownies or muffins, things like that. All the food we do is always fresh. Or turkey chili is our most famous dish. We do it really simple, fresh ingredients, clean.”

Where do you get your furniture? “These theater seats came from a playhouse in Pasadena that one of my customers did the demo on. Those theater seats in the front came from McCabe’s. They had been sitting there for like 25 years, and before that, they were at Royce Hall. These benches are from the Alligator Lounge. These chairs are from the neighborhood church. I think this is part of the reason why I won the award. I have not bought a single new piece of furniture. Customers bring in everything, books, couches, tables. It’s like ‘Oh, I picked this out of the garbage for you.’ ‘Oh, that so nice.’ People just want to be a part of it. One friend did the tile on the floor. We have painting parties, restore furniture together. Usually once a year we have a big yard sale and invite anybody who wants to come and set up a little corner somewhere.”

Who are your employees? “We have a lot of students, part-timers. Most of my employees have been here for a long time. Most will stay for a few years, leave and come back. It’s great because that means they are having a great experience. We have eight employees now, which is the most we’ve ever had.”

What is the trend in coffee drinking in Santa Monica?

“Well, right now, everybody’s in to chai tea. It really does go through cycles, like in the summer when it’s hot, people are really into the blended drinks. You do have to keep up on what’s popular. We definitely go with what’s selling and what people want. We’re always changing our menus.”

Does the kind of coffee you drink, or the fact that you prefer tea, say something about your personality?

“Well, I don’t know. We definitely have a lot of neurotic people in here who drink a lot of caffeine, and could probably use some decaf. I guess it just goes with the mood. When it’s dark and cloudy, everyone wants mocha or hot chocolate. They want nurturing, and start eating more muffins. When it’s hot, people want ice drinks and don’t want to eat too much. So we adjust our menus to the climates. You have to adapt as a small business. We’re not really competing against Starbucks, but in a sense we are. We buy 100 pounds of coffee at a time, they buy the harvest. Our costs end up being a lot and profits are really low, so we make up for that in the way we treat our customers, our staff. We try hard to give people something the corporations can’t.”

How do you feel about the Starbucks of the world?

“I know a lot of coffeeshop owners and I think it’s sad that they get pushed out because Starbucks moved next store. The corporates come in and we kind of die out. That’s why when people come in now, they feel its a really unique business. People come in here and they’re like, ‘Wow!,’ Because they’re used to seeing the slick, shiny, real generic looking coffeehouse and that’s what they think they’re all like, but here, it’s like something out of Amsterdam, straight out of ‘60s. To me, this is home. We encourage people to hang out and stay. We’re not designed so that you get up and leave. I know my customers. It’s that “Cheers” environment. All of my neighbors have met each other here. Before they didn’t even know each other. I baby-sit for my customers sometimes, talk about their problems, drama, whatever. People feel they get nurtured here. They get taken care of. We try to do whatever we can to help people out. I had a neighbor come in saying ‘Can you get this tick off of me?’We get all of our neighbors’ Fed-Ex packages when they’re not around. Would that happen at Starbucks?”

How have you been treated by the city as a business owner?

“I know everyone’s had a story. Everyone’s had a hardship. We’re all a little frustrated that Santa Monica seems to be working against you. People feel as if they’re getting no breaks and the city’s not working with you. But I have found that Santa Monica is very much by the book and if you go by the book and follow each step, you can get somewhere. It takes time, but you will get things accomplished. If they want to do the dance, do the dance. I’ve always been the person to want things now. But the city doesn’t work that way.”

What are some of the things you enjoy about Santa Monica?

“I love being near the mountains so we can go hiking. I love to hike. I love the Santa Monica Mountains. I love to go to the beach, bike and run. I love to be outside. There are trails all around us. I love being able to hop on my bike and be on a trail in a half hour. I love the weather.”

What’s next for Pico? “Well, we’re planning on having an art walk sometime, maybe in October, because we have a lot of galleries opening up.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 8, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050806.pdf?ref=smdp.com)