A not-so-merry Christmas — Tiger’s disappointing visit to The Grove.
Story by Miriam Elghefari
The Grove is a high-end shopping center located in Los Angeles. Alongside luxury retailers, it also features trending stores such as Brandy Melville, Edikted, and more. Ruby, Isabella, Mac, and I were initially drawn to The Grove by promises of a “winter wonderland,” ice skating (not sure where we got that from), pop-up shops, and good food. Instead of a whimsical winter experience, we were gifted a lack of patience to wait in several hour-long lines for the meager Christmas offerings around The Grove.
The journey to The Grove was an excellent use of the Metro. I was always aware that public transportation is used by thousands of people every day, yet on this day it became quite clear to me how truly accessible it is. With the use of maps and a prepaid Tap card on my phone, we were able to navigate the bus system and determine which Metro trains to take. Much to our delight, we were serenaded by a Metro train passenger singing a beautiful rendition of Feliz Navidad. His tunes carried us on our journey as we departed Union Station and continued down the Metro line.
Upon our arrival at The Grove, we stopped by the Erewhon on Beverly Boulevard on our walk. In contrast to the Pasadena location, the Erewhon had a smaller assortment of food and drink. We later learned that the Beverly Boulevard location was the first one to be opened in the Los Angeles area. The employees were very kind and helpful, yet nothing excuses a $15 salad, especially one that is practically the size of my palm. Despite learning about the magic of Erewhon’s chocolate cake-by-the-slice, arguably the best offering we found was a can of strawberry vanilla OlliPop that Ruby purchased for around $3. Erewhon proves people will pay money for anything, really, a lesson that would soon be reinstalled in us by the many attractions at The Grove.
The first Christmas disappointment of the day was the Jellycat Ski Club pop-up. Jellycat is a British company that makes plush toys and stuffed animals. While cute, the stuffed creatures did not warrant the hype of the pop-up. The pop-up building itself was about the size of a studio-apartment living room, and around the side of it was a several-hour-long waiting line. Upon entering, we saw that there were little to no plush toys in stock. Sore prices accompanied the low stock — ranging from $40 to $115.
After the disappointment of the Jellycat pop-up, we made our way towards the center of the mall. The Grove offers a Santa Workshop in which people can take photos with Santa Claus inside of a beautifully decorated building. Sadly, the event was pay-to-enter and the prices were somehow even more baffling than the lack of an accurate Santa, ranging from $8 for a wallet photo to well over $100 for a package. We attempted to make our way inside, but we were stopped on our way and told we had to make a purchase in order to enter.
Following the Santa’s Workshop disaster, Tiger retreated into the Farmer’s Market for some refreshments. The Farmer’s Market was the highlight of the day and far surpassed expectations with stalls such as a build-your-own pickle bar, or homemade ice cream. Another stall offered a wide arrangement of freshly made pasta with different toppings such as burrata and different protein options. Ruby and I experienced rejection therapy when we asked a passerby for an oyster after a request from Isabella. Much to our dismay, the passerby was disgruntled and did not end up giving us an oyster.
After the oyster fiasco, Mac did his fellow writers a favor by accompanying them to the infamous two-story Brandy Melville. Having opened on Nov. 24, the new Brandy Melville followed Santa’s Workshop and the Jellycat pop-up in being a letdown. There were no fitting rooms and the crowds were worse inside the store than outside. We ended up trying on clothes in a quiet corner, hoping the spiteful employees would not viciously attack us for making the best out of the situation. Without fitting rooms and countless repeated items around the store, the Brandy Melville left us overstimulated and in need of more refreshments. We ended the night with an ice cream stop at Bennett’s and left as “snow” began to fall. The snow, presumably made of some sort of soap, garnered a large throng of people. Jazzy renditions of Christmas music played around the square and the crowds were afloat with festive cheer.
Overall, Tiger ended the night much disappointed by The Grove and all it had to offer. On the bright side, the decorations around the center were beautiful and brought much-needed cheer. After our evening at The Grove, I can confidently say that a much better Christmas-esque experience can be found in spending time with loved ones and taking care of oneself.
