SOMETHING IS OFF from the way I was receiving service compared to others in the store. POCs please read. Garments: I came back here based on a previous good experience. If you know your vintage, some of pieces are gems. I am ok with the prices. HOWEVER, something wasn't right on multiple occasions during my second visit. The owner with the black bangs rushed passed me (without saying "excuse me" / with little regard for the fact that we are still in a PANDEMIC and she was too close to me). I let it go. Later, I caught her staring at me. Since I wasn't greeted I figured "ok maybe she didn't see me, I'll smile". No honey, she stared at me and walked away. That's when I noticed she was asking multiple other customers if they needed assistance. Not only that, but she kindly asked other Caucasian customers if they would like a fitting room started (when I asked, she said "Take one" and pointed at one). I only asked because I didn't know if I could take one or if she assigned them. I was still giving this experience the benefit of the doubt. IDK, I thought maybe she was just busy. Then, as I was using a fitting room and stepped outside to add a belt to a dress I was trying on, she put another Caucasian women (who she offered to help with measurements and garment sizing). I was never offered this and I was in the store longer. She then proceeded to ask that woman if she would like the fitting room I was using. I let her know I was using it and was not done. The owner with black hair ignored me. I spoke up again (this time she had seen my personal belongings hanging in the dresser), so she moved them and said "I know. She will be here after you are done. Hang YOURRRR stuff on the right and SHE will hang hers on the left". The owner then apologized to the Caucasian woman as if I were the inconvenience.... when I was in the fitting room first. I tried to be the bigger person and buy the items I liked, and be out. I couldn't. Something felt off. It was one uncomfortable incident after the other... I was also the only POC person in the store at the time. I got dressed and got my belongings and walked out of the dresser. Before I left, I let her know the service provided to me was different than those provided to the other customers in the store. I was composed and calm. She then raised her voice and tried to gaslight me. I responded with, "no thank you, I will not give you the response you are looking for." I meant it. If I got upset I knew I would fall into the prejudice and look like the fiery Latina. I felt I had to handle this situation with as much grace as possible AND at the same time, speak up for myself. So I did and walked away. I was not going to yell like she was. She tried to justify her behavior and I just said, "I'll take my money elsewhere, no thank you." I was ready to spend $80 on the four pieces I liked. I know it's not a lot but I actually went in there to pay for a service. It is such a shame that I experienced this and that there are other people who may experience the same - but might not have the courage to speak up for themselves. read more

Iconic 4th street go to!!! If you haven't been here you clearly don't know what your missing! read more

La Bomba - The pile sale is the bomb! - Used, Vintage & Consignment Near Me - Long Beach, California

While I didn't have an encounter with any rude staff members as other Yelpers mentioned below. I had walked past this store, but I saw a cute colorful skirt on a mannequin at the store front window. I walked in to navigate around the store. There was the distinctive thrift store smell. Overall there was a lot of clothes, and it was a bit overwhelming. I was trying to find the skirt, but after a few moments in the store looking, I just asked the lady working the register. She was happy to take the skirt right off the mannequin up front for me and show me a rack of other skirts just like it. After browsing around, I tried on the skirt, and it fit like a glove. When it came down to it, I paid $35 for that skirt, which in my opinion, is super pricey for a skirt that isn't new. It was cute. I'm glad I have the skirt, but there are probably more affordable thrift stores out there that'll have what you're looking for. read more

okay at this point, everyone who comes here can sense the bad vibes and over priced clothing. owner is so strange to customers like girl chill out! i'm just shopping why are you lecturing me?? it's super difficult to shop because everything is so packed tightly together. you'll be looking at some pants and the owner will walk over and point you to the "bigger" section. which like i can understand that not having any ill intent behind but there's so much more to the interactions. the dressing rooms are dark and impossible to use, i've never dared to try to pile sale. sounds scary. there's so many other options along 4th street! cute dog tho!!! read more

They are just as rude on their Etsy shop.the item they sold me came broken and bad quality for paying over 57 dollars for it.

I had the best shopping experience ever here! I've been struggling to find a pair of vintage jeans, and D took my measurements and I immediately found an incredible pair of vintage jeans. They changed my life honestly! Thank you La Bomba! read more

DO NOT COME IN HERE! Save your money. The pale lady with the short black hair and bangs is rude as hell and shames women who aren't up to her beauty standards. She followed me around the whole store basically and kept making rude indirect comments to me about everything as I was checking out the racks. On top of that all her vintage items are way overpriced. You'll have better lucking looking for cute vintage clothes on depop for a fraction of the price. With that being said, I did get to check out their neighbors over at "Meow" and had a pleasant shopping experience there! They have loads of vintage cute jewelry and clothes for a way better deal and no lady with a stick up her ass following you around making sure you don't steal anything. :) read more

Lady w the black hair asked if I wanted to go to the dressing room I said no thank you I'm not going to try anything. She said okay and ROLLED her eyes at me. She kept being behind me and I felt so uncomfy I went to return a sweater to the outside racks and she literally went to watch me put it back lmao. This store is way too overpriced and idc if it's "vintage". read more

Way too loud music, crammed, huge clothes pile but impossible to find anything. I don't care about the prices if you can't even find anything. Kind of a waste of time and money because time is money. read more

Both the owner, as well as, the store manager have always been kind and professional. On several occasions they helped with a hard to find "pork pie" hat (costume party) and some pristine fawn NOS Tony Lama boots. Incredible. Great experiences there. read more

great finds but BEWARE THE HANGER LADY Love love love this store...but today a woman was driving myself and other buyers insane when asking repeatedly for the hanger that corresponds to the items I was purchasing as though it was the customer's responsibility to keep track of hangers. read more

My friends and I went to this store recently and I would not recommend coming here. We wish we saw these reviews cus we had the same experience. If you're reading these comments before going in, you shouldn't go in. Once you walk in you will see an old hag wearing black bangs with bad breath. Literally couldn't even look around cus of her always lurking around and asking if we need help. She blocked us from going thru a different section and we had to walk around the long way. She was breaking her neck to see what we were holding. We were around the corner from her and she broke her neck around that corner to see what we were doing. I'm surprised her neck didn't get stuck. She's like one of those hoarders that sell their stuff because they're broke but don't like people buying their stuff. Don't even go in, not even worth going in because her breath smells that bad like it REEKS. You won't escape it because you will smell how bad it is. We think she's trying to kidnap us and steal our youth with her witch powers because she's getting to that age where she's desperate to look young again. If you decide to go in for your experience, you will see her cus she would have smelt the youth before you even walked in so be wary and careful before trenching into the old hags territory. Plus everything was expensive, there's cheaper and better stuff along the same street of the wannabe Edna from the Incredibles is on. I would recommend those stores over her place. Good luck Scavengers if you do tread onto her land... read more

Perhaps my second favorite vintage store on Retro Row in Long Beach! The store has some hip items! Loved how they had a good assortment of men and women's items. they had both very vintage to recently vintage. They had Western ware to contemporary chic. They had 1950's Happy Days items to Nat King Cole era clothing! The female employee was super nice and friendly. The place is welcoming! Everyone was telling me about the giant pile of clothes, but I didn't find it during my visit. I did see a black door in the back of the store, but didn't bother to open it or to ask where it would be! My loss. I'd come here again! Love it! read more

The lady that works there is a straight up fat shamer when you talk to her. She offers her unwarranted opinion about body types and is just...ugh. I never want to go back. I'm a perfect size 5 and I got body shamed. That's not what I or anyone else needs. Run the business like a proper customer service worker and not create a hostile environment. Also the clothes are a bit overpriced. Most are in super nice conditions, but you're gonna be paying 60-80$ for some dresses, 15-20$ for crop tops, 15$ for sunglasses, etc. If you can, go to their Pile Sale but be ready to literally jump onto and climb a mountain of clothes. read more

The customer service was nonexistent. I felt like I got "pretty womaned" I asked to see a dress from the window and the employee sized me up and and said "it's a "vintage size and as you can see it's a Saturday and I have other customers in the store." (There was only around 4 other people in the store) I left without even getting to try on the dress I wanted to buy for a special occasion. I will not be going back to that store. read more

Just spent the afternoon with the family going through the pile sale. Some decent finds. The reason for the single-star review is completely based on the behavior of the owner. The staff (younger folk) were great and super helpful. The owner (dark bob w/bangs) was extremely out of line in how she spoke to her staff. She was condescending and belittles her staff. If you're thinking of working here, maybe look elsewhere. If you work here, I'm sorry. You are important. read more

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE AT ALL!!!! The owner was very very rude and she kept following my friends and I around the store which made us very uncomfortable. If you're planning on coming to this store I'm warning you now to not waste your time! There's better stores out there than this pile of garbage. Come here if you want to be stalked, smell the scent of old people, and if you want to waste your money on expensive "vintage" clothes. if you see the lady with the bangs make sure to step on her toe. Someone like her shouldn't run a business. I hope the owner sees this! If you do LEARN TO NOT MAKE PEOPLE FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE THE ROAD YOUR HEADING TO WOULD LEAD YOU TO NO CLIENTS. read more

The only reason this store gets four stars is because the pile they have on weekends. Other than that I do not recommend visiting this establishment any other days, a lady with short black hair is VERY passive aggressive with almost everyone. She'll make your experience very uncomfortable at La Bomba. I understand the store is vintage and the clothes are delicate to which they need to be extra careful with but deliberately harassing your customers is not the way to do this miss black hair lady. The clothes are also very pricey. read more

whoever the lady is working the pile on Saturday's literally SUCKS. She bitched at my friends and I countless times and threw clothes on us. She needs to be fired because she is sooooo unpleasant. I'm never shopping there again even though it was really fun. I hope the owner sees this review and I'm calling to complain as well. read more

As one of the characters that help write the story of 4th Street, this fascinating vintage store mixes in the beauty of the old with the used. From the moment you step in, you get the vibe that grunge is in the mix, as much as coffee would be saturating the atmosphere at a coffee shop. The smell of age waifs in the air and light shines off the glass counter containing knick-knacks and patty-whacks from times previous. They sell clothes, hats, shoes, and even costumes when the season's right. But the thing that really draws your eyes is the door leading to the back and a huge pile of clothes filling up the door frame. For you see explorers, La Bomba contains an open space in the back that houses not a pile, but a MOUNTAIN of clothing waiting to be discovered. I'm talking take-your-shoes-off-and-jump-right-in kind of thing. Don't be ashamed, people all around are doing the same. It's like the thrift stores of lore, except in pile form. You'll feel like an archaeologist, digging through the strata of cloth and thread. Look, I've uncovered a Member's Only jacket! And here, my hands have brushed out a Marty McFly vest! OMG! A baby blue moo-moo! Things are the things you'll be yelping to your friends with each new discovery. And like a twisted, gratuitous jesture, the price is right. Most clothes hover around the $5 mark, enticing many with an itch for the vintage to spend vicariously through themselves. You'll see many smiling faces along your excavation, yours included. So whether on a nice stroll through 4th Street or on the hunt for time pieced clothing, La Bomba is the place to be. It's "the bomb"! read more

Regular prices..... too expensive for my taste. The pile on the other hand... mmmmmmmmmmm. read more

La Bomba - Used, Vintage & Consignment Near Me - Long Beach, California

.., came in here the other day while driving down 4th St. Hip little vintage shop w/ cool employees. They have a great selection of clothes, especially for women. Members only jackets a plenty for men. I picked up a golfer hat & a little dove shaped ring for my gf. Great prices for what it is. Fitting rooms & mirrors also on the premisis. Check em' out. read more

When I came into the store, the first racks I looked at ranged from $50-$65 dollars. Then as I started walking and checking the other clothes, the employee, a white lady with black short hair and bangs came up to me to let me know there was a dressing room. I thought that was nice. Then when I went to look at different racks she kinda followed me everywhere I went. There was also a dog with her as well just walking around freely near the clothes... A lot of these sweaters, t shirts, and jeans were on average $50 - $90 bucks a pop, emphasis on average. Every rack was so full and hardly any room to walk around I can understand why the store has no customers. My boyfriend wanted to make conversation since we were the only two inside the place and shopping. He asked her "Do you accept donations?" She said in a very rude tone, "NO. This is not a thrift shop, this is a VINTAGE store. Everything is handpicked." After she opened her mouth, that's when I walked out the store. On a personal side note,  I don't know if it's the wanna be Tina Belcher haircut or the stick up her butt because she had no reason to speak the way she did. With all the free time she has it's probably spent making fake accounts to give her store 5 stars without a comment. There were other subtle actions and dialogue during my experience but I think the other reviews speak for themselves. read more

I came here to to say what an awful experience I had with the owner and I see it's already been said a ton of times. This woman is the epitome of why I get anxiety going into shops. She's overbearing, extremely unwelcoming and I left feeling really icky. I was considering buying a dress but I didn't want to give her my money. I feel like the store wouldn't be so cramped and over-packed if she actually let people shop without making them feel like shoplifting suspects. read more

I had went here with my two cousins a while back i wanted to show then the vintage stores around here and we went here La Bomba and and the lady in the bangs kept following us making it super uncomfortable it kept giving all of us really bad anxiety. My cousin wanted to try on a pair of shorts and we were walking towards the dressing room and a man had opened the door for her to try it on and my and my other cousin were waiting outside the dressing room . And the lady comes back and said to us you were supposed to get an employee to open it and i told her there was a guy here who helped us we thought he worked here mind you she said this in a really passive aggressive tone. My cousin felt so uncomfortable she didn't even wanna buy the shorts. Like damn lady you need to learn some customers service skills. Don't be assuming hispanics are going to steal we are not those type of people like if your racist just say that. I will not be supporting this business. Go to meow instead or alien artifacts they are the sweetest I always strike a conversation from The girl in alien artifacts and they will actually help you out and give you a positive shopping experience. read more

Hugely disappointed. Went in on a whim and had a very uncomfortable experience. The lady with the short black hair was nasty, rude and fat shamed me without hesitation. After I asked nicely if a shirt could be taken down off the mannequin. She didn't think twice to look me up and down and advise me against it because it wouldn't look good. As if I know what I look good in. If you don't want my money that's fine, say you dont want my business. But mind your own if I wanna spend $40 on a shirt that I may not even wear. Honestly everyone should stay clear. Im sure there's fleas and mold on the pile sale anyways. 10/10 DO NOT RECCOMEND read more

short lady with black hair (the owner) followed me around and kept making rude, unnecessary comments. Her energy was terrible. So judgmental. read more

Pretty sure this store has an Etsy shop because the shop has the same name and the background in the clothing photos look the same as in store. I messaged the seller to ask a question about an item's description and got a snarky comment. Came here to these Yelp reviews and.... lemme guess. The woman with black hair. I don't support racists. Lost an online sale. read more

What ever treasure you're looking for,!im sure they have it here. You just have to find it. I love the treasure hunt experience here. Just stepping in the front door will make you feel 100 x cooler! read more

The staff makes you so uncomfortable and the store is a disaster. Impossible to look through racks because they're packed so tight. Also heard the worker make a size comment to another customer and imply she was looking at clothing that wasn't in her size so I'm sure it was the same dark haired employee mentioned in all the unhappy reviews below. They also have boutique prices for what feels like a thrift store experience. It's chaotic, messy and cramped. $85 for a dress would make sense in a well decorated and welcoming vintage shop but not in an unkept, sweaty and uncomfortable shop. The shop next door, Meow, is a lot better read more

I really am shocked to see any bad reviews about this place. Every time i come here i get the best help and customer service. The sweet lady who's always there (i believe the owner) helped me so much this last time i went. I was trying on pants and they weren't fitting and she recommended some jeans that would better suit my body type and they fit absolutely perfect. She knows her stuff and cares about the customer. The rack for jeans is all organized and by sizes. It's SO EASY. I love this place. read more

If I could give no star at all I would. I came here with my sister-in-law, mother-in-law and my mom for our girls day out. My sister-in-law tried on this beautiful vintage dress and it fit like a glove. However, the zipper is obviously vintage so it was impossible to zip up because it was very hard and rusty. So I suggested maybe they can give a slight discount due to zipper needing to be changed pretty much. The lady who worked there or maybe the owner (we don't know) pretty much told me sister-in-law that ot's not zipper and that she is big or fat for the dress. Mind you, I am the big one (I admit after giving birth) and my sister-in-law is tiny! Every single vintage dress she tried on fits her like a glove or even lose. Vintage dresses are tiny especially on the waist area. My mom then told that lady, "the dress perfectly fits her. The zipper itself is old and you won't be able to zip it up and it was like that when she got the dress". The lady then again replied, that "if a lady is size 26 and fits a size 24 dress, I won't let her fit that dress". My mom was said, "but you did let her fit it because you know she fits on every single dress here". She then responded, "it's only $48!". By this time, I told my mom to stop because she won't win because that lady doesn't know how to make business and has clearly no customer service ethics. Just plain rude. If she didn't want or cannot provide a discounted price due to a broken zipper, she could've just said so. These type of people shouldn't be working on retail or any type that provides customer service. We were planning on buying the dress even if it the zipper was broken since my mom can fix it. But due to her attitude, it gave us a bad vibe and didn't had an urge to look around anymore so we left after that. If I may suggest, just go to the other stores along that street. They have way more selection and much nicer people. Others provide discounted price automatically if anything is missing like buttons and all without even asking for a discounted price. We like "Meow" vintage store. To that lady, you are rude and just trashy attitude. read more

Most of the clothes is too reserved and non flattering. The employee with dark hair makes your experience super uncomfortable. Just another white woman trying to disturb people's peace. read more

Yes. I could honestly leave the review at just that, but because you probably need more than just a Yes., I will give ya a little more. Yes. Because their selection of dresses is choice. Yes. Because their selection of purses is choice. Yes. Because they carried vintage things in a wide range of sizes. Yes. Because their prices were solid. Yes. Because they had a ton of rad men's fedoras. Yes. Because the girl working here was cute and stylish and the epitome of cool. Yes. Because. Yes. Just go. read more

It's all true - that pile sale is no effin' joke. It's a giant mountain of clothes ranging from a generic Mossimo top to a rad, unique 60s vintage dress. Here's the thing though: it takes a whole lot of damn work. And balls. Digging through that pile can be scary times, god only knows what's hiding under the next blouse. ..but generally the payoff is worth it. I'll add that the front of the store ain't too shabby either. They've got a surprisingly large selection of dresses, all organized surprisingly well, and all surprisingly low priced. It's altogether.... surprising. read more

Came in and homegirl with green hair was amazingly helpful and gave fabulous advice. A real eye for style and appreciation of vintage clothing. A real lifesaver! I will definitely come back. read more

This place is packed with lots of vintage goodies and a plethora of items to choose from... however it is a mess. The racks are too cramped and close together. The main reason for the poor review is because of the store owner. I see her every time I go in and see always follows me around the store or just stares at me from a distance as if I was a shoplifter. This has happened on more than one occasion and just makes costumers feel icky read more

Came in yesterday with my mother and received unacceptable, disgusting, and problematic service. Knowing what I know NOW (seeing their yelp reviews), I am confident that this treatment was due to us being Black. anyway before entering the store they had racks outside which I found a jacket for $20 then proceeded to go to the back to look through the pile and found 3 items totaling ($15). I decided to not buy the jacket but I didn't want to walk out with it (in case of being accused of stealing) so instead, I planned on giving it to the cashier when it was time to checkout. We walk up and get NO greeting but whatever idc but instead homegirl with the bangs asks if we're buying separate (my mom was holding the jacket) and I was like oh actually I don't want this jacket :) and she responds "wElL wHeRe dId yOu gEt iT?" implying to just put it back. so I'm like outside??? and she's like "well??..."and I was like "oh ok I'll put it back then I just thought?" So she's like "you know, I'LL put it back."So my mom was like "it's ok I'll do it and you can ring her up" then the lady was so pressed on my mom taking the jacket outside so she was like "well let me just zip it" then my mom was like "i got it" &she was like"I'll take it back because I don't want it to fall off the rack"so I was like "ya know nevermind" so I put ALL my stuff back bc this lady was just so weird and RUDE. like you can tell if someone is rude bc bad day or rude bc they're being discriminatory and it was definitely discriminatory. So as I'm walking back in (from putting the stuff back) my mom was explaining to the lady how she was being rude since she was dumbfounded on why I put my stuff back so we left. I decided to walk back in to ask for her name& the owner and she refused to give me her name and shouted "Jorge will be in at 5am" and proceeded to say that she worked here for twenty years and that I came in to cause problems which was FALSE. I used to come here often in 2014/2015 and NEVER had a problem EVER. Anyway, I've called (11 times total trying to contact Jorge since 5am) and finally on the eleventh call she picks up the phone and knows it's me when I asked for Jorge. Proceeded to give me the run around yet AGAIN and then HUNG UP on me. I'd like to imagine the owner hasn't seen the yelp because I feel like she'd be gone by now for several reasons 1. The owner is a Latino that has styled many POC. and 2. This lady is literally HURTING his business. Also I'm POSITIVE she knows she'll get in trouble bc she is doing the most to not give his information. SO I will not stop until I talk to him. Will update whenever that is. And if you haven't figured it out already, it was the lady with the BLACK HAIR and BANGS. read more

Of all the vintagey, scenesterish, thriftesque stores on 4th, La Bomba was my fave. The layout was nice, the additional moutnain of clothes in the back were random, and the couple working on clothes in the faaaar back were a touch odd. I agree with other yelpers that the prices were a tad high, but not bad compared to the other shops on the street. I didn't find anything cool this time around, but the next time I have an hour to kill in Long Beach with a friend, I definitely will have to hit up La Bomba again, poca de gracia or not. read more

The dresses here are fantastic, and the prices reasonable (well, considering it's a hip row of vintage finds on 4th street, you're not going to be grubbing through dollar bins here, people. But it's reasonable). Especially if dresses are what you're looking for, La Bomba is the place to go: Wall-to-wall, and organized by decade. I've gotten many a pretty frock from La Bomba. read more