LOOKING BACK
For a decade now, Boyle Heights Beat’s youth journalists have reported on some of the neighborhood’s most outstanding businesses, institutions and individuals. In this recurring series, we’re revisiting our sources and updating some of those stories.
There’s a special type of familiar warmth you feel as your fingers glide along the strings of an instrument from Candelas Guitar Shop, located at 2724 East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue.
You can feel it in the air too, with rich and warm notes of wood coming from the back of the shop where each piece is handcrafted. This familiarity stems from a near century-long history that the Boyle Heights Beat first explored back in 2018: a three generation story –soon to get a fourth– in every grain of every guitar.
A lot has happened since. Tomás Delgado, the shop’s current owner and the third generation in the story, decided to convert the business into a nonprofit organization six years ago, creating the Candelas Music and Arts Foundation. The nonprofit is dedicated to enriching lives in the neighborhood through music and art by sponsoring musical lessons and instruments, as well as hosting special performances and other events to bring the community together.
In addition, the 54 year old has spent recent years training his son to one day take over the family legacy.
“My story’s pretty similar to my pops”, said the son Tomás Candelario Delgado. “I remember being a little kid running around here at the shop, making little crafts with scrap wood my dad would give me, and I’d talk with customers as they came in. I’d hang out in the back and just take everything in.”
“As I got older, I started to understand our history, and how much significance everything here holds not only to my family, but the community too. That’s why I came to the decision to try keeping that legacy going.”
‘Raíces mexicanas’ and Boyle Heights blossoms
Brothers Porfirio (1913-2000) and Candelario (1910-1983) Delgado Flores were orphans born in Torreón, in the Mexican state of Coahuila, that were raised by different families. Porfirio would become a carpenter, having been put to work as a laborer in his early life by the aunt who adopted him. Candelario, adopted by a family with some means, would receive a formal education and become a businessman.
Porfirio’s fellow carpenters would have competitions to see who could build the most unique crafts out of wood. Encouraged by his brother to build a guitar to compete, the two would subsequently realize there was an opportunity to build a business around the musical instrument. And so the two went to work to build and sell, eventually getting to a point in 1928 when the two opened the first Candelas in their hometown of Torreón.
Over the next 19 years, business would grow dramatically: a second shop would sprout in Tijuana, a third in Boyle Heights, a fourth between Echo Park and Chinatown, and finally a fifth out in Hollywood.
Candelario Delgado (1944-1996), Tomás’ father, joined the family business in 1967 right after serving in the army, becoming the second generation in this history. Tomás recalls a time when his father spoke to him about his decision to take on Candelas.
“He got out of the army, came here and saw tio Candelario in his late 50s. The shop was empty and he looked tired. That’s what convinced my dad to help, and he decided to stay,” said Tomás.
Tomás recalled a moment when he wanted to go support his father Candelario, ill with cancer, when he needed surgery. He was told it was more important that he keep the shop running instead.
“I’m the oldest son,” said Tomas. “I have two siblings that were all with my mom in their car together driving to the hospital. I was following as far as I could until I had to get off the freeway to come here to the shop.”
“Ultimately, my dad passed away in the hospital, and that was huge for me. It was more important for him for me to be here than with him.”
Father and son Tomás Delgado and Tomás Candelario Delgado stand proudly under a Candelas sign painted in the 1960s. 
The Delgados stand proudly in front of a mural family friend Jose Ramirez painted for the family owned business in the 1990s. 
The Delgados. stand with their family Chevy Impala, a car marked with their love for their Eastside neighborhood.
Born in 1969, Tomás spent much of his childhood by his father’s side as they engaged in the wonders of guitar making. As a teenager, he apprenticed under his grandfather Porfirio who taught him the art, just as he would teach it to his own son decades later.
In the 80s, the family decided to consolidate all business into its now signature location on the Eastside.
“To be clear, this is the only true Candelas in the world,” said Tomás. “We’ve had people come in and ‘hey you used to be here you used to be there’. Not anymore. There’s only one Candelas now, and we’re right here and always will be here in Boyle Heights.”
Heading towards 100 years of craftsmanship
Named after both his father, grandfather and twice-great uncle, 24-year-old Tomás Candelario is the fourth generation of Candelas.
His journey to being a part of the story is similar to his father’s, as it wasn’t originally in his plans.
Tomás Delgado, the father, never thought he’d end up as the store owner. Originally, he was going to run the shop for a week while his family went on a wedding trip to Arizona. “I ended up staying here, and I fell in love with it,” he said. “It’s fun to be a part of the community and a part of something that’s been around for almost 100 years.”
A baseball player who went off to college, Tomás Candelario never expected to follow in his fathers footsteps as he didn’t grow up interested in the arts or working with his hands. It was during the pandemic, a time when the guitar shop was truly struggling, when the decision became clear to him.
“I saw my pops struggling being here by himself, having to deal with the shop being closed, having to change how we operate overnight,” said Tomás Candelario. “That’s when I knew I wanted to step in more, and I started to picture my life here at the guitar shop.”
The organization’s foundation had been working towards having a bigger community presence, offering scholarships to low-income students to cover the cost of lessons at Candelas when the pandemic unexpectedly struck.
The business faced a massive loss in sales as the storefront closed, and all lessons were moved online. Community events also came to a screeching halt.
“Back then I was so angry, so frustrated with the lack of support that small businesses here were getting,” Tomás said.
“I was in the shop by myself for a couple months, just working on our waiting list for folks wanting a Candelas. It was rough, being here almost every day, when I’d be in my head thinking ‘Wait, I’m losing money here and I’m losing money there.’”
“I had to really sit in my thoughts and try to see what I can do differently to keep us alive. Building the guitars, that’s not going to ever change, but managing the business, that needed to.”
So Tomás put a higher emphasis on the foundation, spending more time focused on fundraising to keep the shop open and keep the scholarship going. In addition, he took on Tomás Candelario as his full-on apprentice, so that he could learn what it takes to make a Candelas.
“I have my own technique, based on my grandfather, my great uncle and my dad,” said Tomas. “It’s my own style, and I speak for them when I say I should be better than they were, as my son should be better than I am. It’s like musicians and athletes honing their craft over the years.”
“What’s even more important is that it’s made in Boyle Heights. I had the chance to leave years ago, but I didn’t, because of the connection between the craft and community.”
“In terms of the relationship between Candelas and Boyle Heights, it’s almost like a marriage,” son Tomás Candelario added. “The rich history of this neighborhood, that goes into every guitar now.”
In the past two years, Candelas has made a big recovery. The foundation has been focused on raising money and providing scholarships, and Tomás Candelario has dived headfirst into his apprenticeship.
With the storefront reopened, classes back in person and a passionate fourth generation set to take on the reins, Tomas is hopeful the family business will reach 100 and remain a part of Boyle Heights for decades to come.
READ THE ORIGINAL:
In 2018, Alex Medina wrote about Candelas for the first time:
