U-Space Ukuleles

Someone here mentioned U-Space Ukuleles in Los Angeles. Looking at their site, I don't see any inventory. Why go to the trouble of making a site without listing products?

Yes, I could call them and ask what they have in stock, but is that practical? Buying a plane ticket to visit the store is even less practical. I buy everything online, so seeing what's available is essential.

Just my "complaint" for the day.

Q: How do you keep a uker in suspense???

A: I'll tell you later!

Ukecaster said:

Q: How do you keep a uker in suspense???

A: I'll tell you later!

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Ooh! I can't wait!

U-space is a cute little shop within the Los Angeles Japanese Cultural Center. I think they sell coffee and Romero’s. (Tiny Tenor, etc.)

As far as I know, it's Jason Arimoto's shop. I think it's more of a side project than his main source of income. They offer lessons and sell coffee too. Jason is a great guy and a fantastic player.

Yes, Jason, his wife Patrice and Daniel Ho. I've been to the shop many times, bought my first bass uke from them, attended many concerts, workshops and classes but haven't been there recently. Even met Jake once when he was visiting the shop to say hi. They were associated with Anacapa Ukes in Ventura, not sure if that's still the case. U-Space is a good place, but it's not oriented to online sales. They carry all the main brands and it might not be a bad idea to call for current inventory.

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8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 8 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
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From Jason's shop. Be sure to call for open hours. Parking around the area is ok (not great - just ok). I got my Tiny Tenor there. He also did the set up on 2 of my other ukes. Jason is one of the nicest guys you'll meet.

Jason and his wife are simply awesome.

Give them a call, it may be less convenient than doing business online but I don't think they will disappoint you.

Also, as I recall, their prices were VERY good.

Jerryc41 said:

Someone here mentioned U-Space Ukuleles in Los Angeles. Looking at their site, I don't see any inventory. Why go to the trouble of making a site without listing products?

Yes, I could call them and ask what they have in stock, but is that practical? Buying a plane ticket to visit the store is even less practical. I buy everything online, so seeing what's available is essential.

Click to expand...

Wow. Lots to unpack here.

Guesses on why a site without online products:

• They're happy with their sales without an online presence.
• They don't think they can compete online. (IE: take on HMS, Mim, Uke Republic, Elderly, etc etc etc)
• Their core customer is probably someone local, who can make it into the shop. They're in LA and probably get sufficient walk-in traffic. It's not like they're located in the middle of nowhere like Mim. (Not a shot.
  It's just that, according to wikipedia, LA has 4M people and Floyd, VA has a population of 425. And looking at it on a map, it's out there and far from any major cities.)
• Having an online presence usually means using an e-commerce solution. And that usually means losing a few percentage points of every sale to that solution. And losing even small percentages really stinks for small business owners. There's a reason why gas stations started offering cash prices a while back.
• It's a ton of work to make an online site work. Think about the man hours, equipment, and cost that HMS must sink into their site. You've got to take the fancy photos, record the video, write up the listing, update the site, deal with regular security hacks and out-of-date packages. Then you've got to have people to ship everything out, and customer service folks to handle inquiries and snafus. High volume websites are pricey. Bandwidth isn't free, unfortunately. It's a lot of work.

Is it practical?

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Probably not. For both of you.

Just my "complaint" for the day.

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It's been my experience that folks who joke about making complaints are generally unhappy about the things they're joking about, even when they say they aren't. And regardless of how you feel, I want you to know that I'm sorry you're stuck in this kind of rut.

If I'm ever in the Catskills again, I'll look you up and we'll jam. It'll be great. :thumbsup:

Oh well Jerry, Uke Republic’s shows everything out of stock all the time....I have been to U Space in person. It’s pretty small with just a few choice ukes.

Most of our California uke specialist stores (particularly the ones with mid-to-high end inventory) do not sell online. For example, Ukulele Source in San Jose is an incredible little shop run by lovely people, and Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach is one of the best ukulele stores on the mainland. Plus we have a few other smaller shops that specialize in great ukes in the City and in Sacramento, too. There are some pretty sizeable ukulele playing communities out here so I don't think the stores have as much of a need to try to sell online.

Also, there is only so much of a market out there for high end ukes. Even HMS does not sell everything lightning fast. Some beautiful ukes that are fantastic values stay in their inventory for months on end. I think uke enthusiasts tend to forget this sometimes... even the "big" builders like Kanile'a and Koaloha are not churning out that many instruments in their shops every year as even with the resurgence of ukulele and growing appreciation of higher end instruments, there is not that big of a market.

Given all that, I doubt there is too much incentive for other stores to try to compete in that area when we already have HMS, Mim, and Elderly, and many other smaller destinations like Gryphon.

I appreciate having some stores out here in California that are really mostly targeting the locals in the area, in terms of what they sell, what events they run and sponsor, what clubs they facilitate, and things like that!

And on that note, I'm going down to the LA Uke festival next Saturday... if U-Space is open, I'll have to swing by Little Tokyo to check it out! I hadn't heard much about the store before, so I'll be excited to go see it.

derbyhat said:

Wow. Lots to unpack here.

Guesses on why a site without online products:

• They're happy with their sales without an online presence.
• They don't think they can compete online. (IE: take on HMS, Mim, Uke Republic, Elderly, etc etc etc)
• Their core customer is probably someone local, who can make it into the shop. They're in LA and probably get sufficient walk-in traffic. It's not like they're located in the middle of nowhere like Mim. (Not a shot.
  It's just that, according to wikipedia, LA has 4M people and Floyd, VA has a population of 425. And looking at it on a map, it's out there and far from any major cities.)
• Having an online presence usually means using an e-commerce solution. And that usually means losing a few percentage points of every sale to that solution. And losing even small percentages really stinks for small business owners. There's a reason why gas stations started offering cash prices a while back.
• It's a ton of work to make an online site work. Think about the man hours, equipment, and cost that HMS must sink into their site. You've got to take the fancy photos, record the video, write up the listing, update the site, deal with regular security hacks and out-of-date packages. Then you've got to have people to ship everything out, and customer service folks to handle inquiries and snafus. High volume websites are pricey. Bandwidth isn't free, unfortunately. It's a lot of work.

Probably not. For both of you.


It's been my experience that folks who joke about making complaints are generally unhappy about the things they're joking about, even when they say they aren't. And regardless of how you feel, I want you to know that I'm sorry you're stuck in this kind of rut.

If I'm ever in the Catskills again, I'll look you up and we'll jam. It'll be great. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

I'd like to add this: How many Telephone Books have you seen lately?
I can't remember the last time I looked up something in the yellow pages of a phone book.
If you don't have an online presence, to most people you don't exist. Especially to Millennials and younger. I have no idea if Siri, Alexa, etc. could find you if you weren't on Facebook, or had a website.

And you're right it takes a lot of work to keep up an active social media presence.

It ia small shop that recently moved to a much smller space. They have a VERY small collection of amazing ukes, curated for value and quality, but they do not carry a large inventory, so it wouldn't make sense to have a web shop. Taking online orers and shipping them would probably add another uneanted dimension in terms of time and complexity. If you visit the shop, you get the impression that it is a labor of love rather than a business hoping to increase market share. They carry a great selection of Romero Creations, along with other brands, and the service is great.

derbyhat said:

Wow. Lots to unpack here.

Guesses on why a site without online products:

• They're happy with their sales without an online presence.
• They don't think they can compete online. (IE: take on HMS, Mim, Uke Republic, Elderly, etc etc etc)
• Their core customer is probably someone local, who can make it into the shop. They're in LA and probably get sufficient walk-in traffic. It's not like they're located in the middle of nowhere like Mim. (Not a shot.
  It's just that, according to wikipedia, LA has 4M people and Floyd, VA has a population of 425. And looking at it on a map, it's out there and far from any major cities.)
• Having an online presence usually means using an e-commerce solution. And that usually means losing a few percentage points of every sale to that solution. And losing even small percentages really stinks for small business owners. There's a reason why gas stations started offering cash prices a while back.
• It's a ton of work to make an online site work. Think about the man hours, equipment, and cost that HMS must sink into their site. You've got to take the fancy photos, record the video, write up the listing, update the site, deal with regular security hacks and out-of-date packages. Then you've got to have people to ship everything out, and customer service folks to handle inquiries and snafus. High volume websites are pricey. Bandwidth isn't free, unfortunately. It's a lot of work.

Probably not. For both of you.


It's been my experience that folks who joke about making complaints are generally unhappy about the things they're joking about, even when they say they aren't. And regardless of how you feel, I want you to know that I'm sorry you're stuck in this kind of rut.

If I'm ever in the Catskills again, I'll look you up and we'll jam. It'll be great. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Just another reply stating how highly I think of Jason and Patrice. Great people. Of course they are, they are in the ukulele and coffee business. How could they not be. . When I was there, I remembered they sold Kamaka, KoAloha, Tiny Tenors, Outdoor Tenors, Blackbird, Kanilea, Ohana and Kala. They had some accessories, like cases and stuff. I'm going to try and make it out there soon. If you really care, I can try to see what they have. are you looking for anything in particular? I think I heard they were now carrying Pono also.

ghostrdr said:

Just another reply stating how highly I think of Jason and Patrice. Great people. Of course they are, they are in the ukulele and coffee business. How could they not be. . When I was there, I remembered they sold Kamaka, KoAloha, Tiny Tenors, Outdoor Tenors, Blackbird, Kanilea, Ohana and Kala. They had some accessories, like cases and stuff. I'm going to try and make it out there soon. If you really care, I can try to see what they have. are you looking for anything in particular? I think I heard they were now carrying Pono also.

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Ugh! Competition. I was thinking about one of the Creations. I should get back soon. If only money were an unlimited commodity.

AQUATOPAZ said:

Ugh! Competition. I was thinking about one of the Creations. I should get back soon. If only money were an unlimited commodity.

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Hah. No worries. I’m trying to improve on the instruments I have. I will make sure to leave the instrument for you...

Ok. I stand corrected on a few things. I went to the store today. They have a large selection of ukuleles on the wall and they are loosely arranged by three categories: entry level, upgrading your uke, high-end. I saw Ohana, Kala, Tiny Tenor, a limited edition Romero Creations Replica, some outdoor ukuleles, etc. And then, just sitting there talking with them, I learned they actually have a lot lot more! I didn't see it on the wall, but asked if they had a blackbird. They brought out both a Farallon and a Clara! They had a few really high end custom instruments, including two made by Pepe Romero Jr. himself. I saw labels for Kanileas, KoAlohas, etc.

The new space is smaller, but it felt way more intimate. Almost like a personal shopper type experience. You sit in a comfortable room, and you can try all different types of ukuleles until you find the sound that you are looking for. They will go above and beyond. Really cool people. Love them. Love U-Space. I wasn't ready to buy another ukulele today - but boy, I sure was tempted.

If you are near downtown LA., I would definitely check them out - what a great experience.