During 1st Shelter-in-place order – A bookstore / fortune teller leased space and opened its first store at our building on Windward Ave in Venice Beach. For them it was a momentous opportunity to experiment their business in physical space, practice protocols to safely service customers and “create positive energy during difficult times” as they put it. They also stayed open during the LA Riots.
During this 2nd Shelter-in-place order – A high-end ceramics/porcelain company just leased space to open its first physical location with a similar mandate. They invested their own money to bolster the storefront and are excited to be open every day.
Take-aways – As the lifeblood of LA, small businesses demonstrate resiliency and resolve to generally do the right thing for their customers and the community at large, regardless of political (mis)management. Straying from this would put them out of business by market forces – ie negative online reviews etc.
Moreover, this is a great time for landlords to flush-out current and prospective tenants and see how they react in times of uncertainty and structure agreements accordingly. I continue to bet on LA for these reasons.