SMH: Nipsey Hussle's The Marathon Clothing Store Vandalized

The late great Nipsey Hussle’s The Marathon Clothing Store was vandalized this week.

Source: MARK RALSTON / Getty

On Tuesday, a video began making its way across the internet, showing footage of the store in its current state; The Marathon Clothing store and the entire shopping complex surrounding it are completely vandalized. It’s not clear who is responsible for the incident or how long ago it happened, but the glass windows on the front of the shop are completely shattered.

The Marathon Clothing store was Nipsey’s pride and joy when he was alive, making an effort to invest back into his community in Crenshaw rather than buying property and opening a store in a more gentrified area of Los Angeles. This is also the same place the rapper’s tragic death took place last year.

Back in 2017 the “Prolific” rapper officially opened the doors to The Marathon Clothing store, which carries a variety of clothing for men, women, and children. The budding entrepreneur often called his business the “smart store” because customers were able to access exclusive clothing and other merchandise from an app he had created to heighten their shopping experience.

In an interview with Billboard that same year, Nipsey shared his inspiration behind building the now iconic Crenshaw landmark.

“We had a ton of different takes of how we wanted to execute it,” he said, “We wanted to use a model like Starbucks where there’s an experience in it. It’s free WiFi, you can come and get some work done. It’s jazz in the background. While you’re sitting down, there’s a ton of products around you that cater to the most likely patron that’s going to walk into a Starbucks — a college student, a professional who just got off work. The model for this is having that curated experience.”

On March 31, 2019, Nipsey Hussle was shot multiple times in the parking lot of The Marathon Clothing in South Los Angeles and pronounced dead at a hospital. The gunman, Eric Holder, pleaded not guilty in April to murder and two counts of attempted murder, along with a count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Unsurprisingly, people in the community immediately started cleaning up the damage, showing just how much love Nipsey still has in his city despite those who try to overshadow it with acts like this.