1 Panoyan, Katrine
Subject: RE: EDTech Item 2 Comment
From: Brian Wallace <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2025 4:31:46 PM
To: Gao, Beilei <[email protected]>
Subject: EDTech Item 2 Comment
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------------------------ Dear City Council EDTech Committee Members,
Thank you for the opportunity to share some of the impacts of the Eaton Fire on the Playhouse Village business community as we all work towards recovery. Generally echoing the findings from the City's ED survey of Pasadena businesses, our Playhouse Village businesses, services and institutions have experienced significant interruptions in operations; some noteworthy findings from our on-the-ground research include:
1. Temporary Closures: The majority of businesses we’ve spoken with temporarily closed for at least a day when the fire began. While some businesses have reopened, one retailer is still closed, and others only resumed operations last week.
2. Sales Impact: Most businesses report sales declines of over 50%, with some experiencing declines as high as 70%. They attribute the sales declines to displacement of their customer base and concerns about poor air quality affecting foot traffic.
3. Challenges for Restaurants: Despite some continuing to do well, many local restaurants were still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, so they are especially concerned.
Some have reduced their hours, let staff go, or in one case, failed to generate enough revenue to cover payroll this month.
4. Impact on Services & Retail: Service-based businesses are also suffering, with a large portion of their customers displaced. Even some fitness studios, which typically see strong business in January, have been impacted. Retailers that re-sell goods are also struggling due to the volume of second-hand clothing and items available from donation centers impacting sales. Live performances were cancelled or postponed, further reducing spillover economic activity.
However, there are services like cleaning or retailers like mattresses that have an increase in customer traffic.
5. Community Support: We continue to see businesses offer free or reduced-cost services to people impacted, from haircuts and eye exams to fitness classes and laundry services.
In terms of preferred assistance, there is a reluctance to commit to loans. Many are familiar with the EIDL program from the COVID-19 pandemic and are hesitant to take on more debt given history and new uncertainties. With such a significant impact to the reliability of customer traffic and accessibility, there is great concern for how long recovery will take. In some respects, the impacts seem similar to 2 those of the pandemic, with many merchants now facing an uncertain recovery or another "new normal" to adapt to.
We appreciate your attention to the impacts on our local economy and we look forward to working in collaboration to support and assist our business community.
Brian Wallace
President/CEO
Playhouse Village Association
626.744.0340
playhousevillage.org