New restaurant chain hits downtown Santa Monica
By JAMIE WETHERBE Special to the Daily Press
Polly’s Bakery Cafe bustles during lunch hour with meals and conversation exchanged between employees and patrons, something that’s been going on for decades.
But because of rising rent, those who frequent the restaurant — located on Fifth Street and Wilshire Boulevard — this month will be looking for a new place to go.
“I’m going to miss (the employees),” said Rose Drake, 83, who’s been lunching at Polly’s since it opened about 30 years ago. “We have lots of fun.”
Fernando Salvador, Polly’s general manager, said some of the more than 45 employees will be transferred to the other 13 Polly’s in Orange County and Long Beach. Others don’t want to leave Santa Monica.
“I’ve got employees who’ve been working (here) for 20 years,” Salvador said.
The restaurant and bakery will close its doors on March 22 after the building owners upped the rent — the latest in a city trend that sees more and more long-standing “mom-and-pop” shops being pushed out by corporate chain stores that can afford the lease.
“The city doesn’t have any control over it,” said City Planner Bruce Leach.
The building that houses Polly’s about a year ago was sold to Oakland-based Friedkin Investment Company, who asked for $22,000 in rent — almost triple what the restaurant had been paying, according to Polly’s co-owner.
“We’re not happy to leave,” Eddie Sheldrake said. “We had no option really. We can’t pay that kind of rent.”
Chain-restaurant Panera Bread will be renting the 4,100-square-foot building for between $15,000 and $20,000 a month, said Philip MacDonald, a financial spokesman for the company.
It’s a lower price than what space commands on the nearby Third Street Promenade, said Joseph Fitzsimons, vice president of Sullivan-Dituri Realtors, a Santa Monica based commercial real estate firm. Promenade storefronts rent for between $7 and $12 a square foot, while Panera will be paying between $4 and $5.
The Midwestern-based Panera, which owns more than 550 bakery and cafes, will start construction in early April and open the restaurant by late June, MacDonald said.
And while Polly’s is known for having one of the more reasonably priced menus in town, the new restaurateurs said they’ll aim to top it.
Panera is “probably even more competitively priced” than Polly’s, MacDonald said.
The new owners have submitted plans to City Hall to change the building’s interior, but much of the outside may stay the same, Leach said.
And the sign outside of Polly’s will keep its look because the city has deemed it historically significant. The sign offers an era when restaurants were “homey,” MacDonald said.
But for many in Santa Monica, it won’t be the same.
“I (will) miss a lot of people here,” said Carlos Hernandez, a Polly’s employee for 21 years, adding that some customers appreciate his service so much, they may even follow him to his next job as far away as Long Beach.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 2, 2004. Read the original PDF.