The day’s drizzle seemed appropriate last Saturday in Redondo Beach, as longtime Riviera Village fixture Harmony Works prepared to fold after 21 years in business.
Though the business was able to weather issues stemming from a relocation eighteen months ago, they were unable to overcome what Royce Morales termed a “massive” stroke to her husband and business partner, Michael, in late November of last year. Michael suffered tremendous damage to his speech center and lost all movement in the right side of his body, Royce said.
Since Michael’s stroke, Karen Burt has stepped up to maintain the business in the Morales’ stead. A regular business associate and contractor with Harmony Works, Burt began to run the business that Royce hasn’t stepped foot into since Michael’s stroke on Nov. 24. That forced Burt to become the seven-day-a-week employee that Royce and Michael had fashioned themselves into, shaping her advice to Royce regarding the store’s future.
“She was distraught when we spoke about closing the store,” Burt said. “Even after I talked to her about my feelings about it, she was still hoping there was some way to turn things around. It’s a hard business to run for two people, but for her to have tried to run it alone and take care of Michael…”
But Burt wasn’t running things completely on her own. Loyal customers, such as Diana Boyce, set out to give Harmony Works an assist.
A Hollywood Riviera local, Boyce had been shopping at Harmony Works for the better part of ten years, she says. “When I heard that he had a stroke, I told Royce that I can’t buy the store, but I can volunteer for as long as they need me,” she said.
Boyce said she had been working without pay for Harmony Works constantly since the first message about Michael’s medical condition. Her reasoning? “I’ve got a lot of stuff in my house from Harmony Works,” she said, smiling broadly.
To Royce Morales, that fits perfectly within her vision for Harmony Works.
“I think our store is iconic,” she said. “I think Harmony Works offered an experience that went beyond just pointing and clicking. It was a wonderful, soul-nurturing experience of creativity. People would feel good, enriched, at peace. They would come just for the experience and just to hang out, which was really my intention.”
But more than the loss of a standout business, Riviera Village stands to lose the presence of one of its most visible champions in Michael Morales. As President of the Riviera Village Association, a leader within the Business Improvement District and the Redondo Chamber of Commerce, his fingerprints are all over the area.
“He’s been an advocate for the Village and for the area — that, I think, more than anything else, is what will be missed,” Ron Zagha, who operates nearby Lisa Z with his wife Lisa Zagha, says. “Those of us who have volunteered that time, it takes a lot when you’re trying to work every day. No one gets paid for that, and Michael has been at the forefront of it from the get go.”
Le Tete, a jewelry and clothing retailer which is currently celebrating its 31st year in business, will be taking over the entirety of the space that it’s shared with Harmony Works over the past year. According to owner Stella Tetenbaum, Le Tete plans on offer many similar goods to Harmony Works’ inventory.
As for Royce and Michael Morales, they’ll soldier on, though Royce doesn’t seem to be clear on how their finances will be affected going forward. She says that the transition between spaces caused them to lose income for three months, and that they’d been barely keeping their heads above water since then. To help offset costs, the couple set up a crowdfunding effort to benefit Michael’s recovery at YouCaring.com.
Uncertainty aside, Michael is recovering well, Royce says. In the months since his stroke, he’s made progress both with speaking and mobility, joking with his family and friends “with the 20 words he has,” Royce says. And though he may be confined to a wheelchair for now, doctors tell the couple that Michael’s recovery has an excellent prognosis — that “he’ll not be 100 percent back, but pretty close.” Though there’s no definite timeline for his recovery, Royceis optimistic.
“He’s definitely a fighter, he’s definitely stubborn. He definitely wants his life back.”
Visit YouCaring.com to donate to Michael Morales’ recovery.
