Sincere Imports

Just bought some parasols here for my upcoming wedding. The young girl with the glasses who was working (didn’t catch her name) was very helpful and patient in helping me pick them out. I had walked in and out of various shops throughout the greater Chinatown area, but I felt like the parasols here were the best quality, look, and price.

Of all the shops dying off in Chinatown and becoming galleries and other things, this one has been going strong since 1938 — when businesses in «Old» Chinatown, near Olvera Street, were relocated into what was then Little Italy, forming «New» Chinatown.
Tucked in the Central Plaza, which was opened and dedicated the same year Sincere opened, you can find it across from the fountain where people throw their pocket change, aiming for the receptacles labeled «Wealth,» «Health,» and «Luck.»
Tourists love Sincere for the shopping, perusing their stock of fans, lanterns, figurines, porcelain, hats, and other knickknacks after they bang on the gongs at the front entrance for «Good Luck» and «Money» and rub the giant Buddha statue’s well-​worn belly that greeted them as they entered.
I dig Sincere for the things hanging above the shelving — ceremonial dragon and lion heads, giant Peking opera masks, and massive lanterns — and the nice people who own the place. It’s one of the few shops left that embodies the old spirit of Chinatown.

this is where i shop for folding fans. from decorated paper fans to larger sized nylon beauties, you can pick up a fine variety of self-​propelled cooling mechanisms.
the nylon fans have a plastic armature that is remarkably sturdy and long-​lived. i have at least two of these fans from an era when i was commuting across los angeles without air conditioning during the usually hot to witheringly-​hot summers.
sincere hails from the golden age of chinese ‘gift’ stores in california. and to this day stocks low-​priced items ranging from tiny plastic swords, to more regular-​priced things like paper lanterns, kites, parasols & wind chimes.
i lament the disappearance of tiny spy cameras that used to be a staple item.
sincere is also satisfying when you want to shop, but not somewhere spendy. [jumbo bargain on sunset near echo park ave. also serves this purpose well.]