Adriana Molina, owner of the Sidecca store, bought clothes to donate to the victims of the fires in Altadena. Despite having to evacuate herself and her family, the businesswoman drove from Long Beach to Pasadena to deliver the items to people who were also being evacuated due to the Eaton Fire.
Molina’s home and business are located on the shores of Altadena and fortunately ended up intact. However, he had a feeling of guilt about all the destruction around him and knowing that he knows many people who lost their homes, including his brother Hector.
“The store is still there, but my entire city is gone,” Molina said. “7,000 houses have disappeared and those are also my clients.”
The Latina businesswoman launched a GoFundMe campaign, not for herself or her business, but to provide support to families who have lost their homes, many of them her clients.
The future of Sidecca is unknown at the moment, but the entrepreneur says that for now she will focus on supporting families in Altadena.
“I know a lot of families, maybe 89 at my children’s school, who lost everything,” says Molina, who grew up in Altadena in a close-knit community. Her parents, originally from Jalisco, still live in Altadena and like her, they feel lucky because their home was not destroyed by the fires.
His brother Hector and his family who lost their home moved into a trailer that Molina has right outside his home, while they look for another place to live.
“He went to his house and brought a bicycle, two chairs, a see-saw and two flower pots and they said: we’ll take this because this is what we have,” Molina said of his brother.
Hector’s family put their things right outside the trailer so they could feel like they were home. He has a group chat with his neighbors and says they all plan to rebuild their homes.
Molina started working with Sidecca 20 years ago when it was previously a chain of stores. But 13 years ago, when the company filed for bankruptcy, the Latina businesswoman bought the name and has owned it ever since.
The entrepreneur opened the store in Altadena in 2020 and the store was full of cardigans, stickers, dresses and more.
Molina saw the store for the first time almost two weeks after the fire, and saw its closed sign on the door with ashes over it.
The premises around his were completely destroyed, with only rubble inside them. She still doesn’t understand how her business was left almost intact.
In a post that the entrepreneur shared on Instagram where she announced that her business was safe, customers and community members expressed happiness and love for Sidecca.
Many of them said that as soon as the store opens again, they will be there.
The entrepreneur emphasizes that she still needs more time to decide if she would like to open her business again after having difficulties with the pandemic, a lawsuit and now the Eaton fire.
Recently, Molina launched a fundraising event to support its employees as they are unable to work; So for now he is selling t-shirts, bags and keychains among other things with the Altadena name, a design that was very popular in his store.
Additionally, he is looking for other small businesses or vendors affected by the fire so he can sell their items on the Sidecca website and give them more customers and support.
The loss of the community where he grew up has impacted Molina, but he maintains that he will continue to do everything he can to support.
She stresses that the support seen so far has been important, but she would like to see more support in the long term.
“In a few months, I hope that the support that is being given now will continue,” Molina said. “All the donations and fundraising for the families that are displaced… because it will be more difficult in the future.”