Old Town Report – April 28

Old Town Monrovia. – Courtesy photo

By Pam Fitzpatrick

This week I want to give a shout out to the entities that make Old Town Monrovia the jewel that it is today. Our Historic Old Town District started out as a community gathering place (horse-and-buggy-style) and after all these years, we are back to the basics. We even have horses – really! If you do not believe me, watch the Monrovia Day Parade on Saturday, May 14, (9 a.m.) and see how the city council travels up Myrtle Avenue!

With the upcoming Monrovia Day celebrations just around the corner, it is timely to thank the faithful supporters of the Merchant Co-Op, the Monrovia Old Town Advisory Board, city staff and council, as well as the other boards and committees, service clubs and individuals that make our Old Town often emulated (but rarely duplicated!). What a great partnership! We are a small city and partly because of our “smallness,” we are physically located very close together. City hall is a block away from the center of town: if a business owner has a question, or a complaint, the resolution is a short three-minute walk away. Our neighboring downtown business owners have to get into a car to drive to their city halls.

I was meeting with a group of merchants from one of our San Gabriel Valley sister cities this week, and one of the questions they asked me was how I could tell them what was going on in most of the “opening soon” or currently vacant buildings in Old Town. I told them I am at the planning department counter at least three times a week. For them, that would be impossible, but it is something we in town often take for granted.

The same group was also asking about “turnover” in Old Town. I used to be embarrassed to answer that kind of question. Not long ago the life expectancy of a fledgling small business in Old Town was far less than the average term of their lease. Not so today. Even with rising lease rates and the difficulty in finding funding sources to back a new business, we have less and less turnover in the district.

Counterintuitive as it may seem, it really does make sense: landlords and the realtors who represent them are far more selective these days. And it is certainly easier to be selective when you have a list of prospective tenants for all but a few of our locations. Though there are fewer retirees willing to risk their hard fought savings by opening a hobby business, the ones that do open are more than hobbyists – they are serious and have usually done their homework far in advance of signing that lease.

As for me, I did my homework this week and this is what I found out: The Saltner (east Colorado) is on the “two week roll” (definition: two more weeks), making their “soft” opening about mid-May; there are lights on in the Myrtle Street Café (across from the Krikorian) and a “hiring now” sign has been added to the brown paper; the hammering continues in the Copper Still Grill (aka Sam’s Kabob Room) and I have definitely lost my bet; Salad Bistro is now pricing their build-your-own salads based on “weight” (they have a great scale), which means I pay less for a small salad, and more if I build to “share” (sounds fair to me!); still no signs or sounds of activity at Frost My Cake (aka the Monrovia Bakery), and with only a short time until their permit expires, I am wondering what is up.

One last comment: I totally blew it last week when I listed the Summer Concert dates in Library Park. Let me try it again: Sundays, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Rotary Park Bandshell — July 10, 17, 24, and 31; and August 7, 14, 21, and 28. That is better.

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