By Melody Hanatani
Daily bruin contributor
Shoppers in Westwood may have noticed a change coming over the
atmosphere of the Village.
The lack of sales experienced by businesses in the past few
months has resulted in a decrease in overall Village activity.
“It’s quieter here,” said Bryan Gross, manager
of the cheesesteak restaurant South Street.
Gross said that because of the anti-war protests and street
blockages, the restaurant experienced a slump in business in the
past month.
In March, anti-war protesters blocked Wilshire Boulevard,
causing traffic to spread throughout Westwood for hours.
But with the protests dying down and the war approaching its
end, business seems to be picking up again.
“It’s a little better now ““Â it was
especially quiet during spring break,” Gross said.
Bel-Air Camera also experienced slow business because of the
protests.
“There were three or four days when the streets were
closed because of the protests,” said Frank Ponder, general
manager of Bel-Air Camera.
Delivery businesses experienced similar problems. Ramin Messian,
manager of Shaker’s Italian Pizza, said deliveries in the
Village remained constant, but deliveries to Brentwood and West Los
Angeles were cut down because protests and blockages on Wilshire
Boulevard limited accessibility.
Video rental stores also reported being affected.
According to the manager of Hollywood Video, Natashia Betts,
blocked streets may have prevented many customers from reaching the
Wilshire Boulevard store.
However, Betts does not believe war would prevent people from
going to her store.
“Most often people want to stay home and rent
movies,” Betts said. “It depends on whether
they’re going to spend money or not.”
Some students said they do not want to go out when there are
protests.
“I wouldn’t want to go eat if there were protests
because of the traffic,” Aaron Nicklos, a first-year
chemistry student, said.
Workers at Starbucks Coffee on Weyburn Avenue said weather would
affect their business more than protests or war.
Tony Becker, manager of BJ’s Pizza & Grill, said the
restaurant usually isn’t affected by protests because of its
location.
“The atmosphere is acceptable to students,” Becker
said. “Prices are reasonable so in the economic sense, it
hasn’t affected us.”
Some businesses have even reported an increase in business.
Westwood Brewing Company reports its business has been busier
than usual, especially in the past couple of months, and attributes
its success to students.
“Because we’re in a college town, whether it’s
war time or not, people seem to find their way out,” said
manager Braden Drypolcher.
And better business in general seems to be on the horizon.
Shaker’s Italian Pizza reports business slowly rising
since U.S. forces took the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Messian
explained the uncertainty at the beginning of the war may have
prevented people from going out.
“Nobody knew how long it would last,” Messian said.
“Because it is ending and the Saddam reign is over, people
have a better feeling about spending money.”