The controversial Hip Hop Shop is going out of business.
Neighbors had contended the building at 1078 E. 3300 South drew gang members to the area.Shop financier David Hammer Sr., is moving to Sacramento, Calif., with son David Hammer Jr., another of the shop's owner-operators.
Two of the live-in owners were bitter at having to close after only four months in business.
"It got us here, and now it's gone. This is the only thing we had going for us," said John Mila, an admitted former gang member. "We planned to do this for years, and all we got was four months. Now the kids can go find something else to do, like spray-paint their neighbors' walls."
Co-owner Justin Bass said the shop's failure will not stop the influx of hip-hop music and styles, which he said are not gang-oriented at all.
"They thought we were the main cause of graffiti, but there was graffiti five years before we opened," he said. "They can't get rid of it. It's like AIDS. We could reach the kids that do graffiti.
"I hope the residents against us are happy," Bass said "We were doing it to stay alive. This is what I wanted to do, and now it's gone."