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by | Mar 29, 2018 | Vernonia

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Interior of Galco's Soda Pop Stop

Galco's Soda Pop Stop is a soft drink specialty store located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.[1][2] The shop's predecessor, Galco's Grocery, was originally opened in Downtown Los Angeles by Galioto and Corto Passi as an Italian grocery store in 1897.[3][4] Galco's moved to its current storefront in Highland Park in 1955.[2][5] It has specialized in carrying independent sodas since 1995, when John Nese succeeded his father as the store's owner.[2] According to John Nese, he shifted to stocking sodas during a period of poor business for grocery stores; in his own words, "the big chain stores were buying up the distribution channels [and] they just raised the prices and they made sure that no one can compete. So all the little guys went out of business."[5]

Galco's stocks and ships more than 700 different sodas, many of them hard-to-find and small-batch brands;[1][4] it also offers a variety of beers, old-fashioned candies, and fresh sandwiches.[1][2] In 2013, Galco's carried 108 different diet sodas, 68 cream sodas, and 61 root beers.[2]

Among the more prominent sodas that Galco's stocks include Afri-Cola, Bubble Up, Dad's Root Beer, Faygo, Fentimans Curiosity Cola, Green River, Jolt Cola, Jones Soda, Kickapoo Joy Juice, Manhattan Special, Moxie, Mr. Q Cumber, Nesbitt's, and Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer.[1][3][4][5][6][7][8] In 2011, a small batch of White Rose Cream Soda was produced specially for Galco's by Natrona Bottling Company as a fund-raiser for the Southwest Museum.[9][10] Candies stocked by the store include Clark Bars, Lemonheads, Mallo Cups, Razzles, Scooter Pies, Sky Bars, Turkish Taffy, and ZERO bars.[4] The beers it stocks are primarily American craft beers, including Dogfish Head, Fat Tire, Lost Coast, and Russian River, and imports such as St. Peter's Winter Ale of England.[11]

Galco's additionally has a Soda Creation Station that allows customers to create their own personal soda, choosing the flavors and carbonation level before capping and labeling their bottle.[7][10][12] Also, since 2011, the shop hosts an annual Summer Soda Tasting event.[10][12] In 2012, it stopped stocking Dr Pepper products after the Dublin Dr Pepper bottling plant was shut down.[13] Galco's was featured in Visiting... with Huell Howser episodes 811 (in 2016)[14] and 1602 (in 2017).[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gillis, Sandy; Ganon, Jill Alison (2006). Hometown Pasadena: The Insider's Guide. Pasadena, California: Prospect Park Books. p. 225. ISBN 0-9753939-1-X.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Inside Galco's Soda-Pop Stop, L.A.'s Indie Soda Mecca". PAPER. February 3, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Ryssdal, Kai; Palacios, Daisy (July 6, 2017). "Soda pop gives a family-owned grocery store a new life". Marketplace. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Kaufman, Richard (June 1, 2016). "I will get fat eating retro candy". Boing Boing. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Rohde, Skye (March 19, 2008). "L.A. Soda Shop Carries All Shapes, Sizes". NPR. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  6. ^ "The Best of LA: Soda". Los Angeles. 49 (8): 102. August 2004.
  7. ^ a b Rawlings, Arielle (July 21, 2013). "Galco's John Nese & Summer Soda Pop". Hometown Pasadena. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  8. ^ Stark, Ben (April 6, 2016). "Going against the sugar grain: Will the sugar tax spark a new wave of soft drink innovation?". The Drum. Carnyx Group Limited. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  9. ^ Fonseca, David (August 9, 2011). "White Rose Blooms at Galco's Soda Pop Stop". Patch. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c "A DIY soda experience, 23 soda samples and the water that Elvis loved…". The Eastsider. July 23, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  11. ^ Possert, Nicole (December 13, 2012). "600 Bottles of Beer On The Wall: Highland Park soda pop shop stocks up on cold beer". The Eastsider. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  12. ^ a b Painter, Alysia Gray (July 24, 2013). "A Soda Tasting at the World's Best Soda Shop". KNBC. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  13. ^ Reitz, Scott (January 17, 2012). "Dr Pepper Boycott Spreads to the West Coast". Dallas Observer. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  14. ^ "Soft Drink – Visiting (811)". Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University. December 7, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  15. ^ "Galco's – Visiting (1602)". Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University. November 10, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2022.

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