Downtown Business Makes Strides – Gazettes.com: Business
An unstable economy meant challenges as well as triumphs in2011 for many businesses in downtown Long Beach.
Here’s a look at some of the new businesses, closures and otherbreakthroughs that took place in downtown Long Beach andbeyond.
Downtown Long Beach
Downtown, which includes areas such as the East Village ArtsDistrict, Shoreline Village, The Pike, Pine Avenue and ThePromenade, celebrated many business openings this year. Highlightsincluded the addition of Beachwood BBQ (210 E. Third St.),Fingerprints (420 E. Fourth St.), Fresh & Easy NeighborhoodMarket (City Place Shopping Center), Harvelle’s (201 E. Broadway),La Creperie Café (130 Pine Ave.), Primal Flower (407 E. Third St.),Shortnin Bread (401 E. Third St.) and others. in 2012, the VaultLong Beach — formerly Vault 350 at 350 Pine Ave. — is expected toreopen as a premier entertainment venue downtown. there were about120 business openings downtown.
Major business closures this year in downtown Long Beachincluded Borders Bookstore, which was replaced by a One DollarBookstore at 101 S. Pine Ave., as well as the closure of SipologyCoffee at 448 E. Broadway, which had three (all now closed)locations in Long Beach.
A major asset to economic development downtown is the downtownextension of Long Beach’s Small Business Development Center.Headquartered at Long Beach City College, the SBDC’s new satelliteoffice at 309 Pine Ave. offers owners of existing and prospectivebusinesses a variety of no- and low-cost development classes,one-on-one advice, and other tools to help businesses positionthemselves for long-term growth.
Downtown is helmed by the Downtown Long Beach Associates, anonprofit organization that operates on behalf of commercialtenants and property owners in downtown Long Beach.
The DLBA has a strong focus on promoting the area and hostingevents to bring traffic downtown. DLBA events this year ran thegamut, including the Taste of the Downtowns, Tecate ThunderThursday, a Summer and Music series and more. DLBA-produced eventsresulted in an estimated $1.3 million direct economic impact to theeconomy, according to the association. Additionally, downtownplayed host to non-DLBA events and conventions such as the LongBeach Zombie Walk Street and Music Fest, Long Beach Comic con andmore.
Continuing efforts to improve the downtown area, the DLBA CleanTeam removed more than 190 tons of trash and 6,000 pounds ofovergrown weeds from the area. DLBA Safety Guides assisted morethan 9,000 citizens, provided directions to 10,000 people andreported nearly 1,300 cases of graffiti, according to theassociation.
Kraig Kojian, president and CEO of the DLBA, said 2012 was ayear with a wrench thrown into it because of uncertainty about thefuture of the state’s redevelopment agencies, including the LongBeach Redevelopment Agency. RDA projects, such as the anticipatedPine Avenue Streetscape Project, had been put on hold until theSupreme Court decided the RDA’s fate Thursday.
Despite the wrench, downtown Long Beach can celebrate theaddition of new bike lanes, some public art projects, a new cityordinance that cracks down on panhandling and the approval of aland use swap that will restrict land uses in southeast Long Beachfor at least the next 49 years in exchange for less restrictiveleasing requirements at The Pike.
The DLBA did not host its traditional State of the Downtownaddress in November, and Kojian said the association has decidedinstead to host Celebrate Downtown 2012 on Jan. 26 at the Aquariumof the Pacific.
And Beyond
Bixby Knolls continues to promote its First Fridays monthlyevent series, which is in its fifth year. Also, the businessdistrict celebrated the opening of several new businesses,including Aura Thai (4085 Atlantic Ave.), Bixby Exchange (4350Atlantic Ave.), Black Bird Café (3405 Orange Ave.), Fresh &Easy Neighborhood Market (33rd Street and Atlantic Avenue),Furniture Consignment & more (4129 Long Beach Blvd.), Jammin’Music & Arts (4228 Atlantic Ave.), Long Beach Cyclery (3756Long Beach Blvd.), Urban Cottage (4121 Long Beach Blvd.), RickWicked’s (4234 Atlantic Ave.), The Workshop (4242 Atlantic Ave.),and more.
Belmont Shore and Naples storefronts change dramatically thisyear as some businesses closed and others opened. second Streetstorefronts remained in high demand, and nearly two dozenbusinesses opened this year to fill in the gaps. The Belmont ShoreBusiness Association and Belmont Shore Parking and BusinessImprovement Area Advisory Commission celebrated the installation ofa new traffic signal light last February at the intersection ofPomona Avenue and second Street. Also, 10 new BigBelly trashrecycling and compacting systems were installed in October onSecond Street.
Following that “green” theme, City Council approved a citywideplastic bag ban that started with large businesses and will impactsmall businesses starting Jan. 1.
Businesses throughout the city are installing better securitycameras that link to the Long Beach Police Department. And,following a trend that started in downtown Long Beach, some of thebars and restaurants in Belmont Shore have begun using Doormantechnology, which scans driver’s licenses. Doorman can be used tocommunicate to other venues in Long Beach and track or even banchronically problematic patrons.
Merchants on Fourth Street’s Retro Row continued to organizeLast Saturdays events, where businesses collaborate to stay openlate, host entertainment and offer discounts on the last Saturdayof each month. Also, the association celebrated a redesignedwebsite and tried a variety of new events — similar to manybusinesses in downtown Long Beach and Bixby Knolls, Fourth Streetmerchants were actively involved in Park(ing) Day, when somebusiness owners transformed parking spaces and parking lots intotemporary public parks or outdoor reading rooms.
Members of the On Broadway Merchant Association, a collectivegroup of business owners on Broadway, are collaborating and growingmomentum for events in their business district. Also, the HeightsVillage business owners group — for merchants in the Broadway andRedondo Avenue area bordering Belmont Heights, Bluff Heights andBluff Park neighborhoods — hosted a Season’s Eatings event thisyear with food trucks.
The East Anaheim Street Business Alliance — representingbusinesses from Junipero Avenue to the west, Pacific Coast Highwayto the east, 11th Street to the south and 14th Street to the north— organized Lunch Truck it, a weekly event where food trucks rollinto the business district for lunchtime every Wednesday.
