Ski, snowboard businesses embrace cold spell
On another cold and dreary day, with evening lows expected in the 40s, the city’s famous outdoor shopping destination was sparsely scattered with pedestrians dressed in layers, many with a scarf draped over their neck and a beanie warming their head.
It was a strange scene for Santa Monica, where the average temperatures in January are a high of 64 degrees and a low of 50. That hasn’t been the case the past few days, since temperatures started dipping into the 40s, leaving some Santa Monica businesses feeling the cold shoulder from customers.
It’s been a pretty silent January at Mudra, a free-standing women’s clothing store situated in the middle of the 1400 block of the promenade.
The weather determines business, said Kay Miller of Mudra. If it’s raining and temperatures are low, shoppers will opt for the mall instead.
“If you’re on the promenade and standing outside, would you want to try on this Swiss polka dot dress?” Miller asked, pointing to a pink and white polka dot dress on her rack on Wednesday.
Mudra doesn’t specialize in winter apparel. In fact, the warmest item they have is a sweater dress.
But the cold weather doesn’t affect what customers will purchase. Many customers who shop at Mudra are out-of-towners who want to purchase something unique that their friends back home have never seen in the chain stores.
They want to get off the plane and be told “you’ve been to Los Angeles,” she said.
Wearing layers herself, Miller awaited customers in her small store, where even the mannequins were wearing jackets over spaghetti strap dresses.
“I thought they were looking cold,”Miller joked.“And they didn’t get their flu shot yet.”
The slowdown in business has been the same story for Mudra’s promenade counterpart, Fancy Paw, a cart selling doggy apparel, shoes and accessories.
Sales are down compared to January last year, said Debbie Perry, who owns the cart on the 1300 block of the promenade, which also sells sweaters for dogs.
It’s just too cold for shoppers to go out to buy a little something for their dog, according to Perry. In January of last year, the temperature was low enough for dog lovers to think about dressing their furry friends in turtle-neck sweaters and coats, but it wasn’t too cold to keep shoppers from heading out the door.
“Last January was awesome,” she said on Wednesday. “This past week was a disaster.”
Since the cart portion of the business has-n’t been performing well, Perry is relying on her Web site, which has been responsible for the majority of her revenue in January.
“I don’t think it’s ever been this cold in Santa Monica,” Perry said. “People can barely walk to the stores.”
Shoppers aren’t too thrilled with the weather either.
Tiari Justin braved the drizzles and cold weather on Wednesday afternoon when she shopped on Third Street with her friend. Wearing a puffer jacket and flip-flop sandals, like a true Southern Californian, Justin was browsing through some long-sleeved shirts at Mudra.
The weather typically does not affect whether the Angeleno is in the market for winter or spring apparel. She prefers to combine the two seasons by buying a jacket and a halter top and wear them together.
“I don’t like it,” she said of the recent cold spell. “I’m a summer baby.”
Still, not everyone in the city is frowning about Mother Nature’s wrath.
“We’re doing great,” said Stephanie Silverman, manager of Subtle Tones, a women’s clothing store on Montana Avenue.
The store has yet to roll out their spring line and many of its winter clothes are currently on sale and have flown off the racks.
“The weather hasn’t affected our business,” Silverman said.
All business aside, Silverman isn’t too fond of frostbite weather.
Outdoor clothing store Patagonia on Main Street has seen a surge of customers purchasing long underwear, fleece sweaters and ski and snowboard gear.
In the past week, Mountain High, a resort in the San Gabriel Mountains, has reportedly received 2-4 inches of fresh snow.
“Heck, yes,” Assistant Manager Lisa Edwards said, when asked on Wednesday whether the store has been busy. “A lot of people are going up to ski and want to reoutfit their ski wear.”
Same story for Doc’s Ski Haus on Santa Monica Boulevard. “[The weather] has people thinking about skiing and snowboarding,” said owner David Craycraft on Wednesday. “There is nothing like a warm sunny day to make people forget about going to the mountains.”
Some customers, who have no intention of heading to the mountains anytime soon, have bought ski and snowboard jackets at Doc’s to keep themselves warm in the city.
“They make a joke that they’ve never been skiing before and they need a jacket,” Craycraft said.
Some customers are out of towners who didn’t pack any warm clothes because they expected to arrive to a warm and sunny California.
The rain on Wednesday also served as another source of happiness for Craycraft. Rain in the city usually means snow in the mountains.
“Rain is awesome,” he said. “I’m the only person in Southern California who likes rain.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 18, 2007. Read the original PDF.