Just across the street from the recently closed “Thank You Mart,” the eatery Spudnick’s has opened its doors, hoping to succeed where others have failed.
“The owners saw this location and jumped at it,” store manager Christa Lanphere said.
Spudnick’s, which serves baked potatoes, sandwiches, wraps and salads, is located near Lindbrook Drive. Despite what has been thought by students to be a harsh business atmosphere, Spudnick’s owners found the area to be a good fit for their new restaurant because of its proximity to UCLA and the appeal it might have to businesses nearby, Lanphere said.
“We are relying on the foot traffic from UCLA and the nearby businesses. We aren’t exactly a destination-based place. People are more likely to stop in if they happen to walk by and are hungry,” she said.
A week after holding a soft opening, Lanphere said the restaurant has been getting more business than expected.
But Eric Cho, owner of Sandbags on the same block of Westwood Boulevard, said students don’t come so far down Westwood.
“Nobody comes out here because there’s nothing worth seeing.
(Movie) theaters closed down; Thank You Mart closed down,” Cho said.
However, he said Spudnick’s could be successful because it is located right under the Kaplan International Center Westwood, which could give it a consumer base.
Some students said they believe the economy of the area is lagging and needs to be revitalized. Walking around the Village, they said they noticed that many stores had closed.
Fourth-year math and economics student Steven Yoshida saw Spudnick’s and decided to try it. He said he liked the food, but the low number of customers in the restaurant made it seem as if there wasn’t much of a demand.
Stanton Sharpe, a third-year English student, said he believes restaurants that are open late and have more comfort-style food will attract more students.
Cho said restaurants such as his or Spudnick’s are not full-service restaurants, and they are open late, so they are likely to appeal to a broader range of people.
Other new businesses in the area also rely on foot traffic. Bibigo, a Korean eatery that opened in August on Broxton Avenue, has not had much luck with the foot traffic of late, said manager Ryan Chung.
“I asked someone once why there were so few walkers in this area. They said it was the economy. No one has the money to spend,” Chung said.
The manager said Bibigo has had low sales from the start.
“We have better times and we have worse times, but we don’t have great times,” he said.
Sandbags has also struggled to stay above water, Cho said. But a recent campaign to attract more UCLA customers to the shop has brought the restaurant out of the red.
Sandbags was in danger of closing in February, but UCLA students rallied through Facebook and by reaching out to media to save the restaurant. Since then, sales have increased 60 percent. Cho said he attributes most of this to UCLA’s efforts to bring more customers in, but also partially to business picking up in Westwood in general.
Cho said business still isn’t as good as it was in 2007 and 2008, but this is the first time in the past three years that he believes the economy has started to turn around.
New efforts by the Westwood community are working to draw UCLA students into the Village.
The Westwood Community Council organized Westwood LIVE, which will start on April 21, said council chair Steve Sann. The event was inspired by First Fridays in Venice, where tourists and locals alike flock to the streets to browse art sales and watch street performances.
In Westwood, participating local restaurants and shops will be open later than usual. Live music, including jazz and blues bands, have been booked, and food and drink specials will be found all over the Village, Sann said.
“This is an opportunity to bring people into the Village. Hopefully, people will want to come down and spend a little time in the area, which should promote the area’s economic development,” Sann said.
With reports from Sonali Kohli, Bruin senior staff.