Imasala, a collective business on San Pablo Avenue, includes three businesses: Min’na, the toy store, Clove + Whole, a vintage clothing and furniture store and Masterpiece Coffee in the back.
According to Elena Fong, owner of Min’na, she and her business partner Naomi Phan-Quang, owner of Clove + Whole, opened the location together two years ago.
“When everything was shut down, people were really isolated; we were really craving community, and wanting to do things in person and engage with people,” Fong said. “We were hoping other people were feeling the same and missed being in stores and shopping and touching and seeing and engaging with people.”
Min’na sells toys for children with special needs, which Fong explained was inspired by her daughter, who has Down syndrome. Fong explained that when growing up, her daughter did not have access to a lot of sensory toys.
According to Fong, her business sells sensory kits, which can include natural and themed items, such asa dinosaur kit or a mermaid kit for younger children who are visually impaired.
“I have oral motor therapy tools for kids that need that, which my daughter needed growing up and that I couldn’t get in stores,” Fong said. “There are items that normally wouldn’t just go to a store and pick up anyway, you would have to purchase them from your therapist or again, online.”
Though Phan-Quang and Fong opened their business following the pandemic, Masterpiece Coffee owner Young Sun only became a part of the business last October.
Sun hoped to open a location in Fremont that featured Asian inspired flavors, but when plans fell through, he reached out to Fong to be a part of the collective.
“I started sourcing coffee from China. That’s one of the unique things about us,” Sun said. “You don’t normally see that in coffee shops here in the U.S. Those are things that are very near to my heart.”
Sun hopes to expand his part of the business, employing more people in 2025 as well as expand an online subscription. He also mentioned that during weekends, the line can go out the door from 10 a.m. to noon.
Masterpiece Coffee’s menu also offers freeze dried coffees from Taiwan, akin to a more flavorful instant coffee according to Young. Specialty coffees include the Kuro and Shiro, with black sugar and white miso brown sugar flavors, respectively.
“People have welcomed us with open arms, and have just been excited and happy that we’re here,” Fong said. “We’re a space that people can come to and just hang out and talk and gather if they need to.”