In Westwood this past year some smaller, family-owned businesses closed, making room for corporate locations that can more easily afford the substantial rent on commercial properties in the area.
Ben Mitchell, a third-year music student, said change is to be expected, especially in an area so close to a university.
“I figure that in a college town, there’s always going to be high turnover ““ what’s popular one year won’t be popular the next,” Mitchell said.
New businesses that opened in Westwood this year include Active Ride Shop, The Giving Store, The Farmacy, and Buffalo Exchange.
“It’s not a brand new business. This is our 20th store,” said Marcello Sanceau, a cashier and inventory manager at Active Ride Shop.
Lisa Lee, general manager of The Giving Store, said that this is their second college-town franchise.
“We’ve been established 12 years at USC. This is a similar situation,” Lee said.
Nate Epstein, a fourth-year philosophy student, says Westwood has still retained its identity as a good college town with a lot to offer.
“That’s what’s great about Westwood ““ there’s tons of places to eat, all within walking distance. That’s something I’m going to miss when I leave Westwood,” Epstein said.
Tom Nestojko, a fourth-year English student, said he is concerned Westwood will lose its individuality.
“Part of the charm of Westwood is the businesses ““ if they all get replaced, we’ll turn into a big, faceless billboard. It’ll be a lot less personable,” Nestojko said.
Steve Sann, co-owner of Nine Thirty Restaurant and the Backyard Restaurant at the W Hotel, has seen Westwood change dramatically during his time as a UCLA student and then business owner in the area.
Sann noted several Westwood restaurants that closed, including Eurochow, the Moustache Cafe and Sushi ALCU. Sushi ALCU’s tenure in Westwood only lasted a few months.
“It was in and out in a very brief time,” Sann said.
He added that the closing of Long’s Drugs was not a surprise.
“It’s a challenged location. There’s no direct access from the street. Plus, 90 percent of the merchandise you could buy at Longs Drugs you could buy at Ralphs,” Sann said.
Sann added that the historic theaters in the Village are facing diminishing returns, and that some are changing hands or disappearing completely.
“The owner of the Crest recently put the theater up for sale,” Sann said.
The National Theater, located at 10925 Lindbrook Drive, is set to be demolished in approximately six months. Though the original owner, the Mann Theater company, wanted to remodel the 1100-seat single-screen theater, the high cost of removing the existing asbestos made the plan financially unfeasible.
“Costs (of remodeling) keep going through the roof,” Sann said.
Jairo Ruiz, the current manager of the National Theater, agreed that profit was the deciding factor in the building’s fate.
“They wanted to remodel it. They weren’t really making much profit,” Ruiz said.
Sann said the building, which originally opened in 1970, had a very notable beginning.
“The Exorcist played there exclusively for an entire year. Now, with all the multiplexes out there, single-screen theaters can’t make their money back,” Sann said.
Another theater being affected by business change is the historic Bruin Theater, currently called the Mann Bruin and located on the northeast corner of Broxton and Weyburn avenues.
The theater, which opened in 1937, has been deemed a historic cultural monument by the city of Los Angeles.
“Mann leases that entire building. They lease from a family that has owned the building since 1940,” Sann noted, adding Mann subleases to the smaller businesses in the location, such as Diddy Riese and what used to be Star Chicken.
10987 Weyburn Ave., the property attached to the theater that used to house Star Chicken, is slated to become a combination Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
There have been a few concerns from the Westwood Community Design Review Board about issues such as the building facade, but the board’s endorsement of the general business plan is set.
“(All of it) will get approved eventually, I’m sure,” Sann said.
Another Westwood business that will be closing in July is the D’Amore’s Pizza location on Broxton Avenue, which will be replaced by a Chipotle.
Danny Scuderi, a fourth-year English student, said he is upset that he will not be around to enjoy having a Chipotle in the village.
“I think Chipotle is delicious. I wish it would have been here while I was attending college,” Scuderi said.
Joe D’Amore, the owner of the D’Amore’s Pizza chain, blames bad location for the failure of this particular branch, which will close on July 2.
“All the action seems to be on Weyburn, where BJ’s, California Pizza Kitchen and Enzo’s Pizzeria are. If you don’t have a location where the action is, it’s hard to make it happen,” D’Amore said.
The other Westwood location of D’Amore’s Pizza at 1136 Westwood Boulevard will remain open, in addition to almost a dozen other locations. D’Amore said he had to use profit from his other locations to keep the Broxton one open.
“I lost $450,000 in three years here,” he said.
Some places changed in name only. Maloney’s, a popular Westwood bar, became O’Hara’s because the owners did not want to pay licensing fees on the name, which is owned by another Maloney’s in Arizona, Sann said.
Antonio Perez, a bartender at O’Hara’s, says the bar’s atmosphere has not changed since the new name was implemented last December.
“It’s the same ““ maybe even more people. Nothing has changed, just the name,” Perez said.
Amber Maclean, a UCLA graduate and Westwood resident, echoed Perez’s sentiments.
“I liked Maloney’s (as a name) better than O’Hara’s. But it’s still the same place, the same workers,” Maclean said.
Just two weeks ago, a global medicine shop and medical cannabis dispensary opened on Gayley. Nestojko is concerned about the store’s implications in a college town.
“I don’t think (it is) a good idea because it’s going to promote so many people to abuse the (health care) system. It’s just going to cause problems,” Nestojko said.
Bill Leahy, chief operating officer for The Farmacy ““ which also has locations in West Hollywood and Santa Monica ““ stressed that they do not want to be known just as a cannabis provider.
“Yes, we are a dispensary, but that is just one medicine in this whole store. We sell global medicine for local people ““ that’s our slogan,” Leahy said.
Mitchell joked that, despite a changing business climate, one Westwood favorite is here to stay.
“The only thing that’s never going to leave is In-N-Out Burger,” Mitchell said.