Flanked by baby blue medical scrubs and white lab coats, Phil
Gabriel maintains two presumably conflicting roles at his Westwood
establishment ““ that of merchant and landlord.
As owner of Scrubs Unlimited, a nationwide retailer of medical
uniforms and accessories, Gabriel also owns the building he works
out of on Weyburn Avenue. More importantly, he maintains an
amicable relationship with his tenant.
The Village is often thought of as a prime location for
landlord-tenant conflict: With high property values and leases
which commonly ask tenants to pay the location’s property
tax, landlords are forced to charge high rent.
So on the surface it may seem as if Gabriel faces a conflict of
interest, with merchants often vying for lenient lease agreements
and landlords generally looking to siphon off as much profit as
possible from their tenants.
Yet the landlord who writes that he “takes the hassle out
of buying scrubs, lab coats, shoes and other medical accessories by
offering secure online shopping,” on his Web site, maintains
a different point of view.
“Especially when it comes to signing leases, everyone
wants to be protected,” Gabriel said.
That is, merchants want to feel secure in knowing their building
won’t be sold multiple times and landlords want to maintain
good tenants, Gabriel said.
With this understanding he has crafted a position for himself as
friendly next-door neighbor with his tenant, Patrick Doyle, owner
of Eyes of Westwood Optometry Center.
“I split all the taxes with him in half and I try to keep
our relationship at the neighborly level. … I think that’s
been successful,” Gabriel said.
In fact, Gabriel makes sure to have his business partner deal
solely with Doyle on any business or lease matters. It’s a
way of doing business that has allowed Gabriel to better grasp the
needs of Westwood merchants.
“Even though he is a landlord, he’s never forgotten
what it means to run a day-to-day business,” said Steve Sann,
a friend of Gabriel’s and partner in the Nine Thirty
restaurant at the W Hotel.
Treating his tenant more like a fellow businessman, Gabriel is
even in the middle of organizing a merchant’s association for
the Village.
The idea is to create a voluntary grass-roots organization of
about 100 merchants, where members can discuss mutual concerns,
such as the lack of parking in the area.
Currently there is no such association where business owners can
have their voices heard.
In the mid-1980s, Westwood maintained an active merchants
association where members actually donated money, Gabriel said.
That association turned into the Business Improvement District
for the Village, which ultimately required large sums of money to
operate but was ineffective because merchants’ concerns
weren’t being addressed.
Nevertheless, the late 1980s and early 1990s was a time when
fellow landlords and business owners maintained an active
relationship.
When Gabriel bought his building on Weyburn Avenue in 1994, the
walk down Le Conte Avenue took him 20 minutes because fellow
business owners would stop him to chat, he said.
To this day, Gabriel maintains a close relationship with the
Westwood community as both a board member of the Holmby-Westwood
Property Owners Association and neighborhood activist.
“He’s always willing to roll up his sleeves and get
involved,” Sann said, who knew Gabriel when he was on the
board of the Business Improvement District.
Sann actively criticized the association for not taking into
consideration the needs and concerns of small business owners.