Poketo is hands down the cutest retail space in LA. Like, what a darling of a shop. First of all, there’s the name. Poketo literally was inspired by Angie’s grandma’s mispronunciation of “pocket.” If that’s not cute idk what is. Second of all, there’s the founders. Ted and Angie are a creative husband and wife team who have managed to create not only a business with a cult-like following, but also foster a community of creatives in Poketo’s orbit. And we haven’t even started on their inventory.
Poketo is the kind of place you always need to pop in if you’re nearby, if just to appreciate their perfectly arranged shelfies for a minute. It’s where you go pick out a gift for your artsy friend, or the perfect thing to bring to a trendy LA house party. It’s where you can always count on finding something to brighten up your desk or kitchen or bathroom or wardrobe. They have a bunch of in-house designed products, from Every city has a shop like this, full of cute curated products. But few have been embraced by the city it calls home like Poketo has. It’s a tried and true favorite for a reason, and a hefty local upgrade to help out-of-towners ease into a more authentic LA pace.
2020 Update: the Culver City PLATFORM location has closed.
the details
| Address | Multiple locations around LA, including a location in Little Tokyo, a Project Space at the ROW, a little gift shop tucked in the LINE Hotel in Koreatown, and a small outpost at the Platform in Culver City. |
| Website | https://www.poketo.com/ |
| Yelp | https://www.yelp.com/biz/poketo-los-angeles |
| https://www.instagram.com/poketo/ | |
| Hours | varies by location, most open around 11 or 12, and close around 6 or 7 |
| Price | $-$$, they carry a range of items pretty standardly priced for local/creative products |
| Aesthetic | bright, well-curated art studio aesthetic |
good to know
Go here for: the perfect gift for everyone (including yourself)
Buy this: super cute LA gear, poppy stationary, a drool-worthy hasami mug, a classic “I would take the 101 to the 10 to the 405 for you” card, because we are a city that would make merch about our freeways
Amount of time to spend: unless you know what you’re coming from, give yourself a good chunk of time to peruse
When to come: all the time, they are constantly adding to the inventory, and the Project Space location always has cool pop ups and partnerships throughout the year
Parking: really varies by location. The ROW has a huge parking structure with free parking for the first hour. Meanwhile, the Platform has a tiny structure that doesn’t have any free parking. The LINE Hotel is in the heart of Koreatown, that is always a hit or miss with finding a meter. And Little Tokyo has its share of public lots, which aren’t too bad on a weekday but can be pretty shitty on weekends.
Other things to note:
- The ROW location is their Project Space, which always hosts different pop ups and workshops. Check out their website and social media for programming.
- The ROW and Little Tokyo locations are bigger and have more inventory than the other two locations.
- They also have an online shop that ships nationwide, so you don’t /have/ to be in LA to stock up, but like, highly recommend being in LA just in general.
- They also recently opened a location at The Source Hotel in Denver!
Last visited: August 2020
Last updated: March 2021
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