Residents cool to chain businesses
VENICE For years, the Subway sandwich shop on Pacific Avenue was the token chain establishment in the predominantly mom-and-pop section off Windward Circle. Initially an unwelcome presence, the locals eventually shrugged and went on their way.
But last year, Corporate America came to town once again, this time in the form of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which set up shop on the corner of Windward Avenue and Pacific Street, catty corner from Cafe Collage, a long-time independently owned coffee shop.
Soon after, Campos, a Mexican eatery with locations throughout the Westside, moved in across the street from La Fiesta Mexican Grill.
Though the number of chain-and corporate-owned establishments still comprise a very small percentage of overall businesses in this neighborhood of West Los Angeles, the increasing presence is sounding alarm bells for many long-time residents and small business owners, many of whom proudly proclaim the area is for “locals only.”
Late Wednesday morning, Elena Lerma, a Venice resident of 14 years, was enjoying her regular morning coffee outside Cafe Collage with good friend Dr. John Michel, a hardcore Venice resident since 1961.
They sipped their coffee and chatted about life, occasionally looking up to wave at the familiar faces passing by. With a heavy gray beard and sporting a “Venice Beach” hat, Michel, a parapsychologist and holistic healer, sat atop a pile of newspapers. The two meet there almost every day.
Michel calls it the “corporate takeover of Venice Beach,” impacting not only the businesses off Windward Circle, but spreading onto Venice Beach, forcing artists and musicians off the boardwalk with the lottery system, which regulates boardwalk space.
Though it currently feels as though Venice is undergoing a corporate abduction, Lerma said she believes the spirit of Venice — the mystical spirit of the small independent business — can’t be broken.
The area has always persevered, Lerma said.
“It’s like a wave,” she said. “What’s left is the heart and soul.”
Down the street from Cafe Collage, Carla Framularo was busy managing Animal House, a clothing store on Windward Avenue specializing in vintage clothing. The store is nestled just off Venice Beach among small restaurants and shops selling tourist attractive items, like beach dresses, sandals and necklaces.
Like many of the locals, Framularo doesn’t welcome the presence of chain stores, saying she was attracted to the area initially because of the charm of small boutiques and restaurants. The chain restaurants also tend to sell unhealthy food lacking nutrition, Framularo said.
“I don’t think a chain could sustain that charm,” Framularo said.
THREAT OF THE MERMAID Acting on the concerns of residents, Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, who represents the 11th District, which includes Venice, filed a motion in February for the city to adopt a “Formula Retail Ordinance”
Citing the city of Coronado, which implemented a similar ordinance in December 2000, Rosendahl states in the motion that the ordinance would “regulate the proliferation of formula retail stores located on Abbot Kinney Boulevard from Venice Boulevard to Main Street and Ocean Front Walk, north of Washington Boulevard in the Venice community.”
A formula business is defined as a restaurant, retail, hotel or other establishment where the services offered and methods of operation are standardized, as well as the architecture, uniform and decor. Well-known businesses like McDonald’s and Starbucks would likely fall under the ordinance.
In Coronado, formula businesses must obtain a special use permit to operate in the city.
Business owners among the revitalized neighborhood of Abbot Kinney, home to small clothing boutiques, independent coffee houses and restaurants, are boiling over the recent opening of pinkberry, a frozen yogurt dessert shop with locations across Los Angeles.
Upset over the increasing presence of formula retail stores, two long-time Venice residents — Dawn Hollier and Melissa Bechtel — launched VeniceUnchained.org, circulating a petition among residents and business owners to encourage lawmakers to enforce a ban on chain stores.
On the front page of the Web site is a doctored photo of the intersection of California Avenue and Abbot Kinney Boulevard. A Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, Claire’s Accessories and Taco Bell are superimposed on the picture, with a caption reading, “Is this how the corner of Abbot Kinney and California will look in a few years?”
A group of business owners on Abbot Kinney casually met a few nights ago to express their concerns to one another about the presence of pinkberry on the street. Though the business owners are not happy that pinkberry is in town, they would’ve accepted its presence had it not been for its exterior design — a fluorescent green and blue grill that illuminates at night, said Amanda Dugan, the owner of a clothing boutique store, Brick Lane. While it’s respectable that pinkberry was started by a young female entrepreneur, Dugan said she isn’t happy with the “aesthetically horrifying” storefront.
The business owners seem upset with the fact that the street lacks trash cans and sufficient parking. Many customers come into the stores carrying empty pinkberry containers, asking shopowners if they could dispose of it in the store.
“It’s been unbelievable to all of us,” Dugan said.
For Tales and Toys owner Elizabeth Ryan, the biggest issue with pinkberry has been the lack of trash cans.
“They don’t even have a trash can in front of their place,” she said.
The locals here speak in a dismayed tone of a possible opening of a Starbucks on the street, a business whose presence could be unwelcome by many of the long-time residents and store owners.
Even with Starbucks, Dugan knows the local residents such as herself will continue to support the two small independent coffee shops on Abbot Kinney — Abbot’s Habit and Stroh’s Gourmet — but believes tourists will be drawn to the familiar sight of the mermaid in the green and white logo.
“Starbucks will be the demise (of Stroh’s and Abbot’s Habit),” Dugan said.
If tourists opt for the Starbucks, they will miss the “great cup of coffee at Abbot’s Habit or the fantastic sandwiches at Stroh’s,” Dugan said.
Though it’s sad to see the chain stores move in, “it is what it is,” Ryan said.
Ryan believes the restaurants and coffee shops stand to lose the most against the chain businesses. It’s doubtful that retailers like Toys “R” Us would move in across the street, Ryan said.
Whether chain stores will move in is ultimately up to the landlords who control the leases, she added.
“What makes Abbot Kinney, Abbot Kinney is the small boutiques,” Ryan said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 17, 2007. Read the original PDF.