A look at what’s to blame for the closing of A Different Light bookstore and many familiar local businesses

by Christopher Lisotta

Not so long ago, this could have easily been a typical Saturday afternoon in West Hollywood along Santa Monica Boulevard: Start at half-century-old Laurel Hardware to pick up some supplies to repaint a bathroom; then head to A Different Light bookstore for some magazines and the latest bestseller; from there swing to the Spanish-themed restaurant the Courtyard for a pitcher of Sangria with friends before heading across the street to Benvenuto for an early Italian dinner. Afterwards make a quick dash into the Japanese-style convenience store Famina!! for some milk and tomorrow's lunch. Not a bad day at all. Problem is, it's now impossible. In the past few months, all of those signature West Hollywood businesses have either closed or are about to close.

Although Santa Monica Boulevard between Fairfax Avenue and Doheny Drive is hardly a ghost town, even a casual glance proves that businesses large and small have shuttered, leaving behind empty storefronts and “For Lease” signs in the windows. Anyone with an investment account or even access to cable news knows the predominantly LGBT-themed commercial district is unlikely to be immune to a national downturn that could eventually be rivaled only by the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Opening a small retail business has never been easy, particularly in a high-rent city like West Hollywood, but the current market conditions have made life more difficult than usual, according to Sharon H. Sandow, the president/CEO of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “This is far more intense than the 'business as usual' situation where a business arrives, is the 'hot spot' for a while, and then departs,” Sandow states via e-mail. “This is a time when long-term fixtures in the community cannot make ends meet and are shutting their doors. This is a significant hardship period.”

Just ask Billy Avarathar-Hatifeld, the manager at A Different Light. On the last Saturday in February, Avarathar-Hatfield oversaw the store as a host of customers snapped up rock-bottom clearance items as part of the bookstore's liquidation of merchandise. ADL's decline was long and slow, starting with the sidewalk closures of 2001 and exacerbated by the fire at next-door neighbor Micky's, a popular dance spot, Avarathat-Hatfiled argued. The more recent demolition and rebuilding of supermarket Pavilions added to the woes.

While fully admitting the plight of independent booksellers has been dire for years thanks to Internet purchasing and competition from superstores like the nearby Borders, Avarathar blames the city itself for starting the chain of bad events with the 2001 sidewalk closures and the dearth of municipal parking. “The city of West Hollywood does not make it easy,” he says. “All these components really hurt us.”

West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang, who calls ADL's closing “tragic,” notes that the street disruption and sidewalk closures began a decade ago and finished two years later. “It's kind of hard to attribute that to a business closing now,” he says. “It's hard to say it has that lasting of an impact.”

Prang admits he is well aware of the struggles local businesses are facing, but says that, compared to other cities, West Hollywood is “in good shape.” While Prang warns there is a limit to what local government can do to directly help businesses, he notes the city hopes to follow the model it used when the sidewalks and streets were being remodeled.

“We loosened up on enforcement of signage,” he explains. “Things like sidewalk displays and sandwich signs are otherwise prohibited. We waived business license fees. We did advertising and promotion to give (local businesses) a running chance.”

Sandow is telling skittish business owners they need to hunker down while remaining proactive. “Hang in there,” she advised. “Work with your neighboring businesses, and with the Chamber, to develop positive business strategies together. Offer incentives to bring your neighbors in the door, support a Shop West Hollywood marketing strategy. All of these things, by working together, can aid survival during this economic crisis.”

But the outlook is not all doom and gloom, especially in comparison to other areas of West Hollywood and beyond. Marc Pollock, a retail property specialist at Westside Retail who represents some Santa Monica Boulevard properties for lease, said vacancies are running a little higher than usual, but are faring better than areas of Melrose Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard. Stretches of real estate in those areas are dominated by home improvement and home décor firms, which have been particularly hard hit in the recent downturn. High rents are a given on Santa Monica Boulevard, making life difficult for many retailers, good times or bad. “There is not much significant vacancy over the norm,” he says.

Prang bemoans landlords who are turning a deaf ear to impacted businesses, letting them move out, and then keeping spaces vacant for months because of rents above what the market will bear. “There are some things the city can do, but most of this is capitalism,” Prang admits.

Sandow says she feels West Hollywood was in a better situation than most cities because it has a pedestrian base that buys locally. ”If you live here, you shop here and you eat here,” she says. “Everything you need as a resident is right outside your front door and down the streets.” Prang stresses that this helps the city two-fold, since one percentage point of the 3-percent state sales tax goes back to the local municipality. “If you shop at the Beverly Center, your money won't go back to West Hollywood,” he says.

Not all businesses are suffering. Prang noted many Santa Monica Boulevard restaurants and bars have remained busy thanks to extended happy hour specials, other value pricing and reduced rates for valet parking. Even if the economy is tanking, simple pleasures seem to remain popular. On the opposite side of the boulevard from A Different Light and about a block west, Millions of Milkshakes was doing a brisk business as a steady stream of customers came in for a cool concoction. The manager, Mike, noted things were getting better for the store now that temperatures were on the rise from a chilly January. The rising mercury had a bigger impact than the overall economy, so much so Mike only had a few moments to talk between orders. “Our tough time,” he said, “is over.”

That's great if you're serving milkshakes, but for many other local business owners the struggle to survive continues.