Santee Alley, Los Angeles

It is a fascinating place to go and check stuff. They have cheap and expensive and stores like Forever 21 buy frrom those stores. I know because i worked there. The Forever 21 stores are Koreans owned and most of the clothing store on Santee and that area supply Wet Seal. Forever 21. So don't go bashing them to much!

Yes, it feels and looks cheap. And YES - I FOUND everything I wanted for my very classy taste... If you have a good eye for GOOD STUFF - you will find it all. Most of things really look they are designed for a cheap streetwalker, but YOU JUST HAVE TO GO THROUGH a lot of such stuff and - you will find anythinig to please anybody's taste. Or very close to it. I did have a blast. IF YOU FROM NYC - no it's NOT better than RACETRACK/Howard beach fare, for most of otheres - it is wonderful!!!

I went to the Alley a couple of years ago with my best friend . We had a blast! We got a lot of really good bargins and met a lot of people from other places. I have been telling everyone I can about my experience. I can't wait to go back! Yes, I would say that the trip was absolutely worth the money. We received a lot of value in the items that we purchased. We missed quite a few stores because we ran out of time. I made notes of some of the places that I will return to in the future. I picked up several business cards of shops where I purchased items. Overall, a great experience.

From what I had been told, I thought Santee Ally would be a place for new designers and fabric manufacturers to sell their wares. At best it was a clothing swapmeet. The clothes being sold were all more approporate for the club scene or the corner of Hollywood & Vine than for day to day. Everything was very trendy, which can be a good thing, except none of the items were constructed well enough to last until the end of the trend. I don't think I would call anything I saw today a bargain. The clothes were priced from $2-60, but a $2 shirt looked like a $2 shirt. Nothing I saw was unique. Most of the women's clothes could be found at your local Forever 21 store and all of the other items were bad knockoffs. (aka: fake handbags with fake logos) While some of the shop keepers were nice (the parking lot attendant was great), most of the vendors seemed to think yelling at us was a good sales tactic. Offensive body odor was also an undesired trend. I have no interest in ever returning to Santee Ally.

Santee Aleey not only has handbags, but shoes, clothing and 2 stores just for pets. I'm from NY and I look foward to going there when I'm in California.

I love Santee Alley I never waist time or money in dept stores, anything you want they have and for less a lot less, if you ask they will get it for you if you don't look like a okley or lv cop. every sat between 7 am and 11 off the alley the clothing stores have killer deals no tax.. lots of cool knock offs..i love it so much! just watch out lots of pick pockets..

Ok, So i drove from northern California to look for deals at this so call "Alley." I went there for the sole purpose of finding quality knock off mens apparal (mainly ed hardy). I had high hope as i read all of the people reviews. However it was a different stoty once i got to the alley. Out of all of the stores only ONE had Ed Hardy. The people there claimed that their merchandise was authentic. Come-on now, if it was authentic they wouldnt be selling it in an alley, theyd be out on the main st. Ande as for bargining, there wasnt any... They wanted $49 per Ed Hardy t-shirt and we not willing to budge even when i offered to buy 3. Other than that all i saw was cheap quality stuff that wasnt even worth buying. I didnt get anything positive out of my first visit to the famed "Santee Alley."

I went here a little apprehensively because I had heard a lot of people complain about the crowds, noise, lack of English speakers, etc. But, I am so glad I went! My boyfriend and I did some of our Christmas shopping there this last December and I couldn't help buying myself Chanel, Gucci, and Coach handbags, as well as knock-off Chanel earrings and sunglasses. Of course, none of it was real, but you can't really tell. My only advice is to be careful when buying the knock-off stuff. Make sure the logos coincide with the brands on them. (A pair of Etnies skate shoes I saw had a Nike "AIR" logo on them.) Also, as far as the handbags, watch for things like the Chanel logo overlapping the seam of the bag, making it look fake, unless this doesn't bother you. Anyways, overall I loved this place, atmosphere included. We found a great Mexican food place to eat at nearby and everything. Oh and also, as far as parking, look for parking advertised as all day parking. We found it for $4. It varies. Just avoid the ones that charge by the quarter hour...such a rip-off. Hope to go back soon!!!

Was concerned about the potential of pick-pockets and kept an eye on the kids. The value of the products is definately drawing me back and this time I am shopping for multiple people. Getting paid to shop and spend other's money----that's nice!

Santee Alley is like going to a bazaar - lots of vendors, shops and people hawking and buying everything from inexpensive knock-offs to factory direct clothing. Go to Santee Alley if you are a real shopper who can discriminate between well made goods and junk. Yes, many of the "designer labels" are fake, but there is a lot of quality to be found if you shop carefully. The crowds, noise, and abundance of merchandise make thia my favorite place to shop in LA!