Retail takeover Pinkberry set to open on Montana Avenue; some fear that chain stores are on the rise
By STORY BY MELODY HANATANI PAGE 10
Fabian Lewkowicz GUESS WHO’S MOVING IN NEXT DOOR?: The popular frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry is getting ready to set up shop on Montana Avenue in a move that is considered a sign of what’s to come.
MONTANA AVENUE A new business notice is affixed to the facade of a long-closed boutique store, the familiar looking pastel colors and playful writing a message to the neighborhood of the foot and vehicular traffic to come.
“Pardon our dust as Montana Avenue awaits its very own pinkberry,” the sign reads.
The frozen dessert company is set to make another entrance into a shopping district that prides itself on its individuality — Montana Avenue, which boasts mostly bou-tiques and small mom-and-pop businesses offering up the kind of merchandise that is anything but run of the mill.
The store is expected to open next to the 17th Street Cafe, near the intersection of Montana Avenue and 17th Street.
Pinkberry caused an uproar in another, somewhat similar, district when it opened for business along Venice’s Abbot Kinney Boulevard in May, prompting several residents and business owners to ask LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl to push for an ordinance banning formula retail stores. The grungy, yet high-end, shopping corridor to the south of Santa Monica is also unique in the fact that there are very few chains currently operating in the shopping district, pinkberry being the only one.
While most of the businesses on Montana Avenue are unique to the street, there are several formula retail businesses, including a couple of Starbucks, Panda Express and Pavilions.
Business owners here have mixed feelings about the sudden crop of chain stores in their neck of the woods, saying that one of the attractions of Montana Avenue is the fact that shoppers can find the types of products they can’t find elsewhere.
For the chain stores, like The Gap or Banana Republic, go to the Third Street Promenade, some business owners say.
“I think what our customers like is that it’s not a mall, it’s not a Third Street,” said Marilyn Lawrence, who owns maternity store Mom’s the Word.
Lawrence said she isn’t personally against chain stores, especially since her store has four other locations in Southern California. But small shopping districts like Montana Avenue create a personalized atmosphere in which regular shoppers can get to know the employees of their favorite stores.
Jan Brilliot, who owns clothing store Weathervane, believes that high rent is killing Montana Avenue, forcing out a lot of the small business owners. Those that can afford to survive with expensive rent are the chain stores like Starbucks and Lucky Brand Jeans.
When Weathervane opened in 1974, Montana Avenue consisted of a small market, a nursery, a hardware store and real estate offices. It wasn’t until about 10 years later when the street really took off as a shopping destination, Brilliot said.
Approximately 96 percent of Montana Avenue is comprised of original boutiques and small family-owned businesses that might have several stores in other locations, said Jim Bardwill, who was hired as a consultant by the Montana Avenue Merchants Association to create a new marketing campaign to rebrand the district.
In its marketing campaign, the business association will not promote Montana Avenue as a no-chain destination, realizing that landlords are signing on more tenants that are corporations, Bardwill said. One example is the Hillstone Restaurant Group,which is opening a Cafe R&D on Montana Avenue. The company owns Houstons and Gulfstream restaurants.
“We don’t want anything to hold true for a year, but doesn’t hold beyond that,” Bardwill said.
Some residents are also concerned about the influx of chain stores on Montana Avenue. Beverly Werber, who lives north of Montana Avenue, said some of the residents she has spoken with in her neighborhood don’t want to see chain and big businesses.
“They appreciate the individual nature of not just the stores in terms of what is being sold, but in terms of proprietors having relationships with customers in the short and long terms,” she said.
The newest addition to Montana Avenue, pinkberry is one of the fastest growing chains in California, with 24 locations and a few more planned in the future, including a shop in Little Tokyo. There has also been speculation that a pinkberry is planned for the Third Street Promenade and on Main Street.
A representative for pinkberry could not be reached for comment.
The frozen dessert company is being seen as a welcome addition by some small business owners, including Beth Whiffen, who owns the shoe boutique Il Primo Passo, which is located a few stores down from the future pinkberry.
“We don’t have much foot traffic here, unlike on 14th Street,” Whiffen said.
Page Morris, who owns La Partie, a stationary and gift store nearby, believes the stores like Chico and Lucky Brand are much bigger chains than the frozen dessert store.
“I’ll be curious to see what happens,” Morris said.“There’s worst things that could go in there.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 8, 2007. Read the original PDF.