Creating a home for community through retail and restoration with Elena Fong & Naomi Phan-Quang
Co-owners of IMASALA Collective
Whether on morning walks together to the local coffee shop or setting up a park picnic with their husbands and children, two close friends bask in the feeling of being deeply seen and known. Though not sisters, the two share a likeness and harmony that is derived from having walked in similar shoes, and been in each others’ company through both the light times and dark. While they met later in life, their younger selves would have frolicked among fields of tall grass together - Sundance film style - barefoot and wrapped in thrifted knitwear and linen trousers. In fact, when they did finally meet, it could only be described as “immediate kinship.”
Today, this female duo runs a curated vintage collection of furniture and clothing (Clove + Whole), an inclusive children’s shop featuring unique items for children ages 5-12 (Min’na), and an all-around creative and educational community space (IMASALA Collective).
Meet Naomi Phan-Quang & Elena Fong.
Naomi and Elena are many things - soul sisters, business partners, fire and water, mama bears, lovers of the natural and “brick and mortar” world, confidants, wives, a teacher and advocate, spiritual, self-proclaimed “works-in-progress”, explorers of design and style, and connectors…
When the pair finally met through a beautiful community of moms in San Francisco, In Good Company, they quickly connected the dots of their lives. Both grew up in the Bay Area and identified with being the odd one among their friends who would trade brand-name clothing for off-trend, second-hand finds, and the next shiny gadget for antiques.
Instantly, they felt like they had been best friends forever.
The two opened up about their passions: Naomi had an interest in developmental psychology and teaching, storytelling through photography, and returning broken things to wholeness; Elena had a curiosity for graphic design, styling clothing, and a personal commitment to spreading awareness about Down syndrome. Intimately, the two shared the experience of motherhood. They empathized with each other’s struggle with debilitating postpartum anxiety and depression, and also together discovered a newfound confidence in their “grown” identities - not only as mothers, but as creatives, community gatherers, and entrepreneurs.
“There’s a language that we speak that we don’t have to translate,” Elena describes. And, this unspoken language they exchange is perhaps the secret sauce to their cherished relationship.
“There’s a language that we speak that we don’t have to translate.”
- Elena Fong
Welcome to IMASALA Collective, established in October 2022.
“IMA” (in Japanese) and “SALA” (in Tagalog) both mean “living room.”The two words reflect Elena and Naomi’s cultural roots and heritage.
Combined, “IMASALA” represents the idea of home.
In the words of Alysha Cassis-Shaw, founder of a bay-area based online platform selling vintage and designer clothing (Neutral Ground and @shopneutralground), “[Elena and Naomi] always put community first…and their store IMASALA is a testament to this. Inclusivity, calm, accessibility, and sustainability are their core values.”
Truly, the feeling of stepping into IMASALA is like the delight and comfort of wandering into a hole-in-the wall bookstore on a cobblestone street; one is beckoned into a simultaneously tactile, playful, and inviting environment where one feels totally at ease to explore and discover. “We need more businesses run by beautiful humans like these two,” Alysha admired.
Once inside, the shop’s large bay windows - two elegant arches set in an earthy and modern aesthetic - filters a warm glow into the store. The light then bounces off of everything from vintage wooden furniture to silk and leather dresses, handmade children’s toys, stationary, and ceramics.
The store is divided into multiple parts. The entire left side houses Min’na (@shop.min_na), Elena’s side of the retail space that sells sustainable and ethically made children’s goods that even includes a tucked-away playing nook (every child’s dream). Elena pays special attention to serving the age ranges of 5-12 years old as well as across the neurodiversity spectrum. For example, Min’na stocks speech therapy tools and sensory items like sound canceling earmuffs and therapy dough. As a mom to multiracial children, and a daughter who lives with Down syndrome, Elena intentionally curates items that all children and families can relate to and use.
Across the shop’s centerline is Naomi’s brainchild, Clove+Whole (@cloveandwhole), a business restoring furniture and curating vintage clothing that she bore nearly a decade ago. Looking back, the seed of the business was planted during young Naomi’s countless DIY projects hobbling together fabric to upholster old couches and wood-shopping disheveled tables. First in the form of a pop-up in 2015 at Small Town Society in Castro Valley, a strenuous time in Naomi’s life, Clove+Whole has since emerged into a liberating pursuit and metaphor for her inner healing. Some of her favorite projects have been repairing broken pottery using a Japanese technique called kintsugi, sourcing a serpentine couch from the early 90’s and bringing new life to old Niels Moller chairs with new paper cording.
At the far end of the shop, a creative workshop space and backyard garden hosts community events year-round, ranging from neighborhood barbecues, jewelry-making, embroidery and sewing classes, Children’s Day festivities, and holiday markets. Thus, each of IMASALA’s unique parts complement each other to create a safe space for fulfilling interactions between visitors.
Building a Brave and Communal Space
The journey of the business began in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. When nearly every human interaction went contactless and the world migrated to QR codes and kiosks, Elena and Naomi desperately dreamed of a different reality. They imagined a place where neighbors could safely be together to laugh, play, teach, ponder, exchange generational histories, shop for everyday goods, and commune.
As much as the vision was to bring the community together, Elena and Naomi’s village of family, friends, and neighbors banded together at the get-go to support them to realize this dream. Being the more risk-averse of the two, Elena especially felt the pain and anxiety of asking family for money. But everyone was more than happy to pitch in.
“We had a very generous loan from a mutual friend too. And that was very emotional [for us],” Naomi added softly. Not only was this a representation of the community’s support, but it was an impactful investment that showed the two new entrepreneurs that others were willing to back their idea in significant and concrete ways.
Naomi: “I’m getting goosebumps…”
“We had a very generous loan from a mutual friend too. And that was very emotional [for us]...I’m getting goosebumps.”
- Naomi Phan-Quan
So, after some heads-down planning and outreach to realtors, the pair found 1714 San Pablo Ave in Berkeley, CA. It was April, 2022. While it was priced way over their budget, everything else felt right and the landlord was personable and willing to work with them.
Their initial impression?
“It was a box,” Elena starts to describe.
It had a punchy orange and blue-colored storefront with mostly concrete interiors, and needed to be entirely renovated. As they walked through the space, though, they mentally-mapped their vision onto the walls and was sold by the time they stepped into the calm and lush back garden.
IMASALA had found its home.
Then, the next few months consisted of lots of exterior and interior work, and many long days preparing for a soft- and grand opening. During this time, Elena and Naomi’s entire families (husbands, kids, and the whole nine yards) would pitch in on design, DIY projects, selecting furniture, installation, purchasing inventory, etc. Curiously, it was very early on that Elena and Naomi noticed similarities between themselves and the other’s partner. For instance, Elena resembles Naomi’s husband in their shared conviction for social causes, and Naomi’s creativity and industriousness mirrors that of Elena’s husband.
“They call each other besties,” Elena says about Naomi and her own husband, “and my kids grew up with Naomi and call her by the nickname ‘Titi Miu Miu’.”
So, with their communities also showing up at every turn of the journey, it was truly a family - and community - affair. While it was oftentimes a hustle, they never lost site of each other’s needs and wellbeing. Continuing to this day, Elena and Naomi never let the concerns of the business take over their care for each other. When either of them needs to delegate a responsibility or take a break, there are no questions asked.
Elena: “There was a time when Naomi was going through a difficult time…there was a lot that she carried and she is someone who does not want to disappoint anybody. I’ll say to her ‘you can say no to me. You are not disappointing me.’”
Naomi smiles and offers the same sentiment: “We’re in this together.”
Coming soon in Summer 2024, and the future of the Collective.
As IMASALA Collective comes up on its 2nd birthday in October, there’s a lot that the two friends have in store.
First up is adding a coffee bar in summer 2024 (a.k.a, right now)! In their experience as connectors in the community and as deeply social and emotional beings, the idea that a coffee stand can open the window for a regular community of visitors is exciting.
“People may not need a piece of furniture or clothing everyday,” Elena offers, “but it is a non-intimidating thing to walk in for a beverage or light snack.”
The shop also continues to prioritize community events, which include pop-ups that bring local artisans, creators, educators, and small-businesses into the hands of the neighborhood. Chun-mui, an herbal medicine maker (Remembrance Apothecary) whose products are carried at the shop, expresses that “what I love about IMASALA is not only their incredible taste for design, quality, and style but that they create a space that welcomes creativity and community to shine…you can feel their heart and love in all that they do!”
With all this goodness, though, what’s the hard stuff that is difficult to do and talk about? The need to balance the pair’s vision for authentic community-building with the financial necessities of a business. It is a constant struggle to sustain and grow the space’s revenue while staying true to their core philosophies, especially since the location of the store is not near any retail hub or downtown.
Intentionally, IMASALA also relies mainly on word-of-mouth “marketing,” if one can even call it that. “We are not even on Google Maps…or, at least not until a customer put us up without us knowing,” Naimo adds. While the shop does have an Instagram (@imasalacollective) and website (imasalacollective.com), Elena and Naomi prefer for their patron base to grow organically, which is in effort to focus their energy on nourishing connections that flow from those slower, old-school interactions.
So, with community, family, and wellbeing at their core, you just might wander by IMASALA one day and mistake the store for a neighborhood block party…and, you would be right! With the store being a gathering place for strangers to become friends and children to become artists, and adults to create, play, and connect, IMASALA - a labor of love by two great friends - might just be the shopping experience you did not know you needed.
Thanks for reading our story on Elena Fong and Naomi Phan-Quan! If you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting IMASALA Collective, you can find them at 1714 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA. For the latest on happenings at the shop, follow them at imasalacollective.com and @imasalacollective on Instagram.
Happy community gathering!
So glad you get to spend some time and share the story of my two favorites business owners!