At 4 p.m. on the first Saturday in December, East 2nd Street closes to traffic. In Belmont Shore that is the signal to set out chairs and blankets for a front-row seat. This year that Saturday is December 5, and the 42nd annual Belmont Shore Christmas Parade runs from 6 to 9 p.m. under the theme "Light up the Night!"
Most years the parade marks the end of the season's shopping push. In 2026 it is also a deadline. Several storefronts on 2nd Street have changed hands this fall, and the business with the clearest public target date is aiming at parade week itself.
The opening date points at parade week
Sugar 'N Spice is the Balboa Island sweets shop whose history goes back to Dot & Bob Candies in 1945. It is coming to 5269 E. 2nd St., the former European Wax Center space. When Longbeachize first reported the move on October 9, the stated hope was to be open in time for the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade.
A week later, owner Mysa Tran told What Now Los Angeles the shop was targeting the first week of December, depending on permits and construction. The first week of December is parade week. Either way, the target sits in the same few days that bring the year's biggest crowd to 2nd Street.
The menu comes north mostly unchanged: hand-dipped frozen bananas, classic scoop ice cream and sundaes. The Balboa Bar, an ice cream bar dipped in chocolate and finished with toppings, gets a new name here and will be sold as the Belmont Bar. Heather Kern, who heads the Belmont Shore Business Association, put the rename this way when Longbeachize spoke with her:
"We love that Balboa Bars are becoming Belmont Bars, starting a whole new tradition right here in Belmont Shore."
Tran, who co-owns the business with Khe Lam, told What Now Los Angeles that Belmont Shore appealed to them because it resembles Balboa Island, pointing to its coastal setting, community spirit and locally owned businesses. A business that grew up on Marine Avenue, Balboa Island's small commercial strip, is betting that a December walk down 2nd Street feels much the same.
Parade night, hour by hour
A new storefront that is open by December 5 gets a long, slow evening of foot traffic. The association's published plan shows how the day builds:
- 3 p.m. East Livingston Drive closes so parade entries can line up and stage.
- 4 p.m. East 2nd Street closes to traffic, and spectators start claiming curb space.
- 6 p.m. The parade steps off from Quincy Avenue and heads east on 2nd Street to Bayshore Avenue.
- After the route ends Entries loop back west on Livingston, along the north side of 2nd Street.
- 9 p.m. The event's scheduled end.
The association lists more than a dozen local marching bands and about 100 entries, including floats built by Long Beach businesses and associations, and St. Nick makes an appearance. This year the audience has a job too. The theme asks spectators to wrap themselves in lights, from light-up necklaces and hats to sweaters and shoes.
Parking and drop-offs are spelled out. Free parking is available at the beach lots along Ocean Boulevard and at Marine Stadium. Rideshare and Circuit shuttle drop-offs are at the Wells Fargo at 4601 E. 2nd St. on the west end and the US Bank at 5430 E. 2nd St. on the east end.
Those two addresses bracket the storefronts changing hands. All three addresses in the next section fall between 4601 and 5430, so every one of them faces the parade crowd.
Three addresses, three new names
The fall turnover on 2nd Street is clustered and easy to place on a walk:
- 4803 E. 2nd St. Bacio di Latte, the gelato chain founded in 2011 by Milanese brothers Edoardo and Luigi Tonolli, is taking over this space. What Now Los Angeles reported the move on October 22. Its menu runs to more than 20 flavors, among them Pistacchio, Giandujotto, Cioccolato Belga and Nutellina.
- 5262 E. Second St. Mandala Spice & Grill, a Nepali-Indian restaurant, has taken over the former Natraj storefront. Its dishes include chicken sekuwa.
- 5269 E. 2nd St. Sugar 'N Spice, almost directly across from Mandala's address, in the former European Wax Center space.
The 4803 space has turned over quickly. Holey Grail, a Hawaii-based taro doughnut brand, opened its first Long Beach shop there in June 2024 and closed abruptly early this year, as Longbeachize reported in February. The same report placed that closure alongside a run of short-lived dessert concepts. It also noted that longtime sweet shops on the street, including Frosted, which recently turned 20, and Sweet Jill's, were doing well.
That is the backdrop for two new dessert counters arriving on one stretch in one season. Bacio di Latte comes in with a Southern California rollout already underway, with sites in Santa Monica's Topanga Village, Beverly Hills, Beverly Grove and The Americana at Brand in Glendale. Sugar 'N Spice comes in with 81 years of one family-run shop behind it, as Tran put it. One arrives with a regional network and the other with a single-shop history. Both chose 2nd Street heading into the holidays.
The Saturdays on either side of the parade
The parade sits in the middle of a three-week stretch, and each Saturday around it has its own draw.
Saturday, November 28. The association's Small Business Saturday, "Shop the Shore," runs from 8 a.m. to 9:59 p.m. with free parking all day. For the street's established shops, this is the busiest regular trading day before December. For a business aiming at the first week of December, it is the last weekend before the target.
Saturday, December 5. The Christmas Parade, 6 to 9 p.m., with 2nd Street closed from 4 p.m.
Saturday, December 12. The Naples Island Holiday Boat Parade lights up Alamitos Bay and the Naples Canals from 7 to 8 p.m., according to the Naples Island Improvement Association's events page.
The boat parade weekend points to the slowest-moving project on this stretch. In Naples, George Mlouk of Nico's has bought the former Chianina and 4 Shore building, and Kelly's Steakhouse is coming back. Kelly's opened in 1958 and served steaks, seafood and martinis. It was the city's oldest steakhouse when it closed in 2013, Longbeachize noted in its October 16 roundup. As of that report, Mlouk was still working with the city on the details.
The newer arrivals on the street are aiming at December. Kelly's is a longer return of a 1958 name to Naples. The storefronts between the two parade drop-off points are where this season's changes are landing first.
Storefront turnover on 2nd Street changes the blocks around it, and owners near the corridor are the ones who see that first. If you own a home near Belmont Shore and want to know how this year's changes might show up in your home's value, The Vasquez Group can put together a current, address-specific estimate. We work in English and Spanish. Get your free home valuation.
