![]() There has been a commercial tenant eviction moratorium in place in West Hollywood (it covers the period from March 16 to May 31, after which the business owners have six months to pay their back rent). ![]() In addition to the financial impact of COVID-19, Schmutzler said an issue was “a really nasty one, two punch of a landlord who has been really inflexible in working with us.” However, Rick Schmutzler, co-owner of Gym Bar, went public about issues with his landlord (Elias Shokrian of Calitex LLC in Beverly Hills) in a post yesterday on Facebook. Small business owners also are complaining about what they describe as “landlord greed.” Several agreed to speak to WEHOville about their issues with their landlords with the understanding that they wouldn’t be named for fear of retribution. “Among other factors, the Amazon effect is cited as the primary reason for street-based stores’ declining sales, which have often foreshadowed the stores’ eventual closure,” reports Investopedia, the investment website. One of the issues is the “Amazon Effect,” the term that describes people’s growing propensity to shop online rather than visit stores in person. ![]() The dozens of empty retail spaces on Santa Monica Boulevard from Doheny to La Brea once housed other small businesses that faced problems that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Within the next few days most business owners removed the plywood.īut some still haven’t opened for business yet because of the COVID-19 pandemic (or they are restaurants and bars that were allowed to open briefly and then ordered again to close.) Others, like Gym Bar, the popular gay sports bar at 8737 Santa Monica Blvd., and Phonomenal, the Vietnamese restaurant at 8542 Santa Monica, and Basecamp Fitness at 8714 Santa Monica, have announced that they are closed permanently because of the financial damage wrought by the pandemic. Fortunately that protest, which brought more than 20,000 people down Santa Monica Boulevard, was a peaceful one. Last month, many businesses on Santa Monica Boulevard put plywood over their windows and doors for fear there would be break-ins and looting following the All Black Lives Matter protest on June 14. Will Las Lagrimas de Santa Monica (“Saint Monica’s Tears”) will ever stop falling on West Hollywood’s Main Street?
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