Renzwear in Downtown San Pedro

Rennie Nunez knows San Pedro.

That’s apparent to me rather quickly as we chat in his store Renzwear, where customers can buy Nunez’s designs on shirts and hoodies, or request a custom design of their own.

Renzwear has the presence of a hipster, and it’s a good thing. The small business tenants of San Pedro’s historic downtown need to catch the attention of the passerby to cut it in the quiet town. But for longstanding community member like Nunez, it’s the people of San Pedro he works with.

It’s all reclaimed wood and metal and glass when you walk in. But it’s downstairs where the magic happens.

If you’re not greeted by Nunez, you’ll certainly be greeted by Dakota, Nunez’s German Shepard pup that is not the size of one. Shirts designed by Nunez are framed around the walls, showcasing the extent to which Nunez and San Pedro are intertwined.

Busy Bee Market’s design? You know, the place I recommended to pick up a sandwich before heading to the Korean Bell of Friendship?

Nunez designed it.

For my San Pedro natives, here are some other shops you might know that Nunez designed a logo for.

The Pacific Diner. The Marine Mammal Care Center. The Omelette and Waffle Shop-a design he created 30 years ago if that tells you anything about the longevity of his work.

You get the point.

As I wander around, carefully, after one of the men working the T-shirt presses warns me of the hot equipment, Nunez tells me about the speakeasies of Pedro, Billy Joel’s Streetlife Serenade album cover from a building just right outside Nunez’s shop and that Renzwear burnt down in 2015.

Come again?

Yes, after 20 years, Nunez found the place he loved in ashes after another tenant illegally grew marijuana, sparking the blaze.

But in a story only San Pedro can boast of, people rallied behind Nunez to get him a new storefront. For the man who has been sketching since a child, who told me how much he loved his days working in Renzwear, it was beautiful.

“The community didn’t want me to stop,” Nunez said.