Lori and Will Ford Created Much More than a Restaurant and Shop. They Built a Vibrant, Beloved Community Hub

Lori grew up as an only child in Manhattan Beach, back in those mellow beach-town days of the ’70s and ’80s. During that time, the community consisted mostly of longtime locals, flight attendants, pilots, Realtors and a few athletes seeking a quiet refuge. It was also home to Lori’s mom, Linda. Lori attended Manhattan Beach schools and nostalgically recalls her childhood.

“We lived in an apartment above a dry cleaner’s on Marine,” she shares. “In the summers I walked my little self down to Junior Guards. So when our daughter, Lily, was old enough to join Junior Lifeguards, I thought, ‘She’s so little!’ I must have been that little too, but nobody dropped me off or picked me up. I just walked down the street with no shoes on!”

After Junior Guards, Lori and friends would walk downtown and get a slice at Zeppy’s or a rice bowl at Hibachi before walking back to the beach, staying until dark. That was her whole summer.

In high school, Lori spent time at a T-shirt shop in Downtown Manhattan Beach owned by the father of one of her friends. The T-shirt shop would later become Starbucks, and La Mar Theatre (which first opened its doors in 1938) occupied the building on Manhattan Beach Boulevard that is now the Skechers retail store.

For a neighborhood filled with small beach cottages and a small but vibrant downtown, small businesses flourished. These were the days before the 105 freeway, so it was much harder to commute to jobs outside The Bubble. The South Bay was a special haven—a place where Lori would roller-skate to her first job as a waitress at Good Stuff on The Strand.

Lori also remembers when the Manhattan Country Club opened. “My mom actually joined the club in the very beginning because she didn’t want anyone to tell me that I couldn’t go somewhere,” she says. “She was raised very humbly in Orange County and didn’t want there to be any barriers to anywhere that I could go.”

Linda, a secretary at a real estate office, married Lori’s stepdad, Stevie, when Lori was 12. “He came into our lives at a perfect time, and he’s aptly nicknamed ‘the real estate nice guy.’”

After high school, Lori pursued art history at the University of Kansas—a choice that raised eyebrows among her peers. Yet this formative experience opened her eyes to a world beyond the South Bay. Following graduation, she embarked on an internship in New York City at the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, where she worked for a trailblazing woman who represented female artists.

“It was fantastic!” Lori remembers. “Bernice Steinbaum was the first woman gallerist in SoHo, and she represented 75% women or minorities. It was 1996, so she was doing groundbreaking work. My summer project was to put on an exhibit of 30 women over the age of 80 still living and working. It was amazing.”

Lori’s time in the art world evolved into a passion for fashion, leading to a career in costume design for soap operas—a move that culminated in a Daytime Emmy nomination. She worked for six years on various soaps, including One Life to Live in New York City.

Back in Los Angeles, she spent several years with General Hospital. But as the soap opera scene began slowing down, she felt the pull to return to New York.

“I moved back in June of 2001, a couple months prior to September 11,” she says. “I had saved money from my great job, and I was young and single. I was very naive. I thought I was just going to move to New York and do something in fashion. I had costume design experience, but that’s a very different thing from the fashion industry.”

Through a friend in the industry, she got an interview at Bergdorf Goodman and landed a job as a salesperson on the couture floor. Because Lori had worked with actors and actresses, the store felt she would be able to handle high-end clientele.

Lori found it both stimulating and fascinating, but a month after she started, the 9/11 tragedy changed everything. With retail at a standstill, she was quickly let go with no new hiring prospects. It was a very difficult time.

Running out of funds but not wanting to leave New York, Lori leaned on her community of Mira Costa friends in the city and looked for work in restaurants. She walked to her friend Nicole’s apartment, drew up a resume and made 30 copies at Kinko’s.

“I walked from Nicole’s apartment in Chelsea, through the West Village, and ended up down in Nolita, handing the last copy of my résumé to a restaurant called Eight Mile Creek. It was the day before Australia Day, and with my last résumé in hand, I met the manager—who just happened to have recently lived in Manhattan Beach. He saw Good Stuff on The Strand on my résumé and said, ‘Well, tomorrow’s Australia Day, and we need a cocktail waitress.’ So I found myself working my first day at the only Australian bar in New York City on Australia Day.”

Lori arrived to work her first shift as a queue of 100 people lined up around the block just to get in. That first shift was a blur, but she was happy to meet so many international co-workers, hailing from places like Turkey, Argentina and London.  She fell in love with the job right away. Little did she know that the man who owned Eight Mile Creek would eventually become her partner in both life and business.

Will Ford was born and raised in Australia but had always been drawn to New York’s energy, food and culture. He opened Eight Mile Creek just before the Sydney Olympics in 2000. It quickly gained notoriety as New York media outlets sought a local backdrop for the Olympics. The area has since become “Little Australia,” a neighborhood full of Australian restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

Lori was quickly smitten with Will. “I fell for him before he had any idea who I was,” Lori laughs, recounting their early courtship. She helped Will escape a persistent admirer one night, with the pair ending up at a bar called Barramundi on the Lower East Side. They stayed out until 5 a.m., Lori recalls with a smile.

The new couple’s life in New York became a whirlwind of creativity and hard work. Lori continued her journey in fashion—eventually working for Hat Attack, where she honed her design and product development skills. After the birth of Lily in 2006, Will’s late-night hours at the bar often left him juggling fatherhood with the demands of the restaurant business.

Above: Photographed by Lauren Taylor

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“Some nights he would come home at 5:00 a.m., and then I would get on the subway at 6:30 a.m.,” Lori explains. “He would walk Lily in the stroller across the Brooklyn Bridge and entertain her for the day while I was working my day job. Our life was super fun in New York, but it wasn’t easy.”

As they contemplated life in New York with a growing family, Lori felt drawn to her roots. “After the first winter hauling the stroller on the subway stairs, we were exhausted,” she says.

The couple’s desire for a simpler life in California, coupled with Lori’s lifelong dream of opening a shop, sparked the idea of Gum Tree. “I always dreamed of having a shop,” reflects Lori, who wanted to create a space that felt like home and showcased products that resonated with her experiences and aesthetic.

When the perfect location—a charming house on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach—became available, the couple seized the opportunity. They wrote a heartfelt letter to the previous owner, Barbara Robinson, who had nurtured the property’s legacy. Knowing the couple would preserve the house’s character as much as they could, she accepted their offer.

The house, built in 1911, had a storied history—transitioning from a private residence to a Hells Angels flophouse and later a women’s clothing store. With careful restoration, the Fords transformed it into a space that celebrated its past while offering something new to the community.

“Will was initially all on board to take a break from the restaurant business,” Lori shares. “But he agreed to open a little café while I opened the store.”

This decision proved pivotal, as Gum Tree quickly became a gathering place for locals—combining shopping with the comfort of a neighborhood café that offers bites with an Aussie flavor. “The café was a way to draw people in and create a warm environment where they felt at home,” Will adds.

From the outset, Gum Tree aimed to foster community connections. “We became a meeting place for young moms and families,” Lori explains. “We offered our space for city meetings and community events.”

Their first major initiative was Lori’s brainchild: a Santa event in 2009 that became an annual event, raising over $100,000 for the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation. “It was a way to give back and create memorable experiences for families,” Lori says, emphasizing the importance of community involvement for their family.

“It’s not just about business. It’s about being part of something bigger. This place is our heart.”

The Fords have also given to South Bay schools’ silent auctions and provide support for countless fundraisers and events, including Sandpipers Holiday Homes Tour, Hearts of Hermosa, the Wine Walk, the Woman’s Club of Hermosa Beach, Indivisible Arts and Hermosa Beach Little League. “We wanted to be part of the fabric of the community,” Will reflects. “It’s about building relationships and giving back.”

The name Gum Tree is a nod to both Lori’s and Will’s roots. “When it came time to think of a name, I asked Will for some Aussie slang,” Lori remembers. When he suggested “gum tree,” she immediately knew it was perfect.

“A gum tree is slang for a eucalyptus tree in Australia, and we got married under a giant one,” she says. It felt full circle.

Above: Photographed by Siri Berting

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The logo, designed by a friend in New York, features a tree with a vintage typewriter font. “The logo reflects our style and the community we wanted to create,” says Lori of this fitting representation of their journey from the Big Apple to the heart of Hermosa Beach.

Opening Gum Tree in November 2008 amid the financial crisis presented a daunting challenge. “I had no idea what I was doing,” Lori admits. She worked every shift, often alone, relying on creativity and community engagement to draw customers in.

This grassroots approach laid the groundwork for Gum Tree’s identity as a cherished local hub. “We had to sell everything to make this work,” she says. “It was a terrifying but exciting time.”

The couple faced hurdles, like the COVID-19 shutdown and construction disruptions on Pier Avenue that lasted over a year, which led them to innovate and develop community-driven events. The Fords embraced these obstacles with resilience, participating in local activities and networking to establish their presence.

“We did everything with the schools and joined the Chamber board,” Lori says. “We were hustling because we were small-business owners now.” Their hard work paid off as the community began to recognize Gum Tree as a beloved local establishment and foot traffic steadily increased.

After years of success in Hermosa Beach, the Fords opened a second location in Manhattan Beach. “We found that so many people had never heard of us, even after eight years in business,” Lori says. “It was time to expand our reach.”

This decision was both exciting and unnerving. “We had to consider how we could replicate the magic of Gum Tree while maintaining our core values,” Will adds. “Lori is the driving force behind us. I’ve become a bobblehead, you know? I’m the man behind the woman.”

Their complementary strengths—Lori’s vision and Will’s practicality—have created unique and beloved spaces in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. Despite navigating challenges, their commitment to community and quality has never wavered.

“Keeping current is really important,” Lori notes, emphasizing how travel and exploration continue to inspire their offerings. The couple’s adventures have not only fueled their creativity but have also deepened their connection to the broader world, allowing them to bring unique products and ideas back to Hermosa Beach. “Being able to travel and draw inspiration from other places is one of the major upsides of this business.”

As they stand on the cusp of another milestone, Lori and Will are not just celebrating a business success; they are honoring a vision rooted in community, love and the simple joys of life. They raised their two children, Lily and Will Jr., grew their business and built a life together here in the South Bay—an environment they love.

In a world that can feel fractured, Gum Tree stands out as a beacon of community, reminding us of the importance of connection, creativity and the simple joys of beach living. “It’s not just about business,” says Will. “It’s about being part of something bigger. This place is our heart.”