Meet Erica Perez | Co-Owner, Oaktown Spice Shop

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Perez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We moved to Oakland in 2009 and were surprised to discover that a city with such a vibrant food culture didn’t have a dedicated spice shop. My husband and co-owner, John, had worked many years before at a spice shop in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he learned to grind and blend spices by hand. That experience stayed with him. We loved the idea of bringing a small-batch, freshly ground spice concept to the Bay Area, focusing on quality, freshness, and blends you couldn’t find anywhere else.

Even though we had no business experience, we took the leap. We leaned on John’s spice knowledge and my journalism background, which included doing research and interviews to become an expert on just about anything.

We opened Oaktown Spice Shop in 2011 to give home cooks access to truly fresh, inspiring spices. Since opening, we have expanded to three additional shop locations, and opening in Los Angeles has been especially meaningful to me personally. I grew up in LA, and getting to bring something I’ve poured my heart into back to the city where I was raised, where my friends and family are, has been one of the most rewarding parts of this whole journey. There’s something really special about a customer walking in who knew me when I was a kid. I’ve seen my mom’s next-door neighbor, my uncles, aunts and cousins, my high school teachers and middle school classmates, just to mention a few.

What should our readers know about your business?
We believe what sets us apart is that we source high-quality whole spices from trusted partners, then grind them in small batches using specialized mills in our production facility. Grinding in-house allows us to control freshness and texture. Freshly ground spices are dramatically more aromatic and flavorful than pre-ground versions that may have been sitting on shelves for months or years. Once ground, we blend them into our signature spice mixes, each carefully formulated and tested.

Small-batch production means more work, but it ensures that what customers take home is vibrant, fragrant, and truly alive.

We also are very focused on making sure our customer service is personal, warm and knowledgeable. People always comment on how kind our staff are and how fun it is to shop at our shops, which I think is a rarity in retail these days.

We started with one shop in Oakland, and the business has grown organically from there. It was just us for about a year, and then we hired our first employee in part so we could take a weekend off to get married.

At first we didn’t do online orders, but customers brought their friends and family to visit from out of town and we quickly learned we had fans in other states who wanted to never run out of their favorite spice blends. Restaurants were interested in using our spices, and some small specialty grocers and online marketplaces wanted to carry them. We were turning away potential customers because we didn’t have the capacity.

We decided in 2017 to open a second shop with a bigger space for our production and packaging. That was when we hired our first shop manager, which led us to take the business to the next level. We learned about creating systems that would ensure our staff knew how to run the shop with or without us present. That took a lot of trial and error, but it set us on a path for the future.

One of the hardest things about running your own business is facing problems you don’t have the expertise to solve, and can’t afford to outsource. Believe it or not, we used to operate without barcodes or inventory software and we responded to every customer email ourselves. That’s hard to imagine now that we have four shops and a warehouse facility. You figure some of it out yourself, lean on fellow business owners who’ve been there, and trust your gut. Then you find out if you were right. If not, then lesson learned.

There have been times during the course of running this business that I have thought: if this were my job, I’d seriously consider quitting. But of course it’s more than a job. It’s our family business, and we have something that is valuable to our employees, customers and our community.

So it’s about working through those tough times and coming out on the other side, finding ways to continue to find joy in it.
Getting to do that in four communities now, including the one where I grew up, makes all of it worthwhile.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I grew up on the Westside, but our shop is in Silverlake, and our LA shop manager Glenny and I wanted to give you the real Eastside experience. So here’s where we’d take you.

Start the day off with a cappuccino and pastries across the street from our Silverlake location at Friends & Family. Best croissants in town, baked by star baker and cookbook author Roxana Jullapat. Their citrus muffin is also a standout.

Get some time outside – visit The Huntington in Pasadena. Spend a few hours wandering through the immense botanical garden, art museums, library and if feeling peckish, stop by the Japanese Tea Garden. The Desert Garden is a favorite!

Or wander around the Silverlake Reservoir for some exercise and elite people watching.

Head into Glassell Park for a bite at one of our favorite Eastside cafes – Little Ripper on Verdugo Road. Owned by a husband and wife team, the cafe menu features bright salads, toasts and Australian jaffles. Vegemite is on the menu! We particularly love the Goldie Lox Toast.

The afternoon should be spent catching a classic movie at Vidiots, the delightful indie movie theater in Eagle Rock. Check out the black and white photo booth in their video store.

Head down the road for a cocktail and pre-dinner snack at Eagle Rock’s Capri Club. The booths are always packed, but you can sneak a seat at the bar and enjoy the scene over a delicious cocktail.

Dinner is at Queen’s Raw Bar on York Blvd. We love the mackerel tartare, the hushpuppies, the fish baked in paper and of course, a dozen oysters. End the meal with a slice of their derby pie!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ll shout out my husband and co-owner, John Beaver! People always ask me what it’s like to work with my husband, but I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else. That isn’t to say we never disagree – we do! But we have a high level of trust and support, which is the foundation that makes running a business together fun.

John is also a walking spice encyclopedia. There is no such thing as a master’s degree in spices, but if there were, John would have earned it. He is naturally interested in everything about spices – from their botanical origin, to their historical and contemporary use, to their flavor profile. I am continuously impressed by his ability to recall facts about spices.

So needless to say, we wouldn’t have a spice business without John’s expertise. Aside from that, he is a supportive business (and life) partner who always expresses his appreciation for the elements I bring to the business. One thing that has made 15 years of partnership work is knowing you always have someone completely in your corner, even when they push back on your approach.

Website: https://oaktownspiceshop.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oaktownspice/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oaktownspiceshop

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/oaktown-spice-shop-los-angeles-2