LOS ANGELES — For clothing store owner Martez Malone, the events of May 31 were unexpected and devastating, but not life-altering.
Malone, the owner of Yekim, a premier urban luxury brand clothing store located on a trendy strip on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, woke to the news that in the midst of a peaceful protest march for justice held in response to last week’s horrifying death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, there was a band of looters breaking into stores.
“I wasn’t thinking about Melrose,” said Malone who opened the store six years ago in one of the most exclusive retail corridors in Los Angeles.
His son’s mother, who was watching the news, called to tell Malone the protestors and looters who were in downtown Los Angeles were heading to the Melrose area and that he should protect his store.
“This is like small things to a giant,” said Malone, a Chicago native who moved to Los Angeles seven years ago to make a better life for himself.
