Venice Grind owner blames Vision Zero and Councilman Bonin for the loss of his business
By Gary Walker
After 15 years as one of the most high-profile establishments on Venice Boulevard, Venice Grind Coffee Co. is closing its doors tomorrow, Oct. 18.
Venice Grind owner Demetrios Mavromichalis attributes his decision to close the Mar Vista coffee shop to a precipitous drop in sales due to controversial lane closures on Venice Boulevard that occurred more than a year ago.
“It’s a direct result of Great Streets Vision Zero,” Mavromichalis said of the transportation initiative designed to reduce traffic–related deaths on major streets and roads. A local business leader in Mar Vista for more than a decade, Mavromichalis was an ally of Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin, an outspoken proponent of Vision Zero. But he isn’t anymore. Mavromichalis holds Bonin responsible for the closure of his and other businesses that have shuttered since the so-called “road diet.”
“This business was my first one. It was near and dear to my heart. I feel more strongly than ever that I want his career to be over,” Mavromichalis said of the councilman, pledging to confront Bonin at public events in the future.
“The gloves are off,” Mavromichalis said.
In an effort to slow down traffic, Bonin advocated last year for the closure of one lane going east and one going west on Venice, additional bicycle lanes and the creation of small parks in an effort to make the street more pedestrian friendly.
Mavromichalis is inviting the public to have one more cup of coffee at Venice Grind on Thursday, so he can thank people for their patronage and support over the years.
Venice Grind Coffee Co. is located at 12224 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista.
I live a few blocks from the Venice Grind, and I can promise you that the challenges facing this business are more complex than the road configuration.
1. Enormously escalating rents due largely to gentrification have driven a number of shops to close down or move.
2. Competition in that arena in our neighborhood is fierce: there are now FOUR other businesses within 1200 feet of the Venice Grind that sell coffee drinks etc to go or stay: (Alana’s, Coffee Connection, Starbucks, and Atmosphere). Alana’s is particularly exceptional – they have created a beautiful space, they roast their own coffee beans, and they are so busy it’s nearly impossible to get a seat.
3. It should be acknowledged that when a business pokes an already divided neighborhood by putting up signs in their window calling support of a chosen political theme “stupidity”, the business will lose customers. I’m not by any means saying that voicing political opinions isn’t the way to go, whatsoever, but doing so virtually guarantees a net loss, and with the other coffee houses already siphoning off customers, it was an even larger risk.
All of that said, The Venice Grind started our little downtown Mar Vista’s growth. Gratitude and kudos to them for being the first to believe in the potential of our neighborhood.
It’s true that over the past 18 months, Venice Grind became much less of a local destination. I would respectfully submit that the Great Streets program had little to do with the decline.
Instead, the arrival of competition in the form of Alana’s (which is also in the Great Streets Corridor) to the west Atomosphere to the east and other coffee places in Mar Vista created new challenges for the Grind. In response, Mavromichalis didn’t shake up the menu, go on an advertising blitz or anything of the sort. Instead, he went on the radio to describe how awful it was to travel to Mar Vista, put up controversial political signs that alienated a large chunk of his customer base, and yelled at people in public meetings. Surprisingly, this unorthodox response to competition didn’t bring more people to the Grind.
Opponents of the Great Streets plan describe the corridor as some sort of hellscape where businesses are constantly closing and traffic jams make life unlivable. But when I walk the corridor, I see lots of small businesses and a growing community of people enjoying the area. I don’t see a lot of empty store fronts. At the aforementioned Alana’s, I have to arrive to meetings early there because it takes so long to get through the line that if I show up on time then the meetings start late.
Mavromichalis blames the reduction in car traffic lanes on the demise of the Venice Grind. But if the Great Street configuration is so bad for business, why are land owners raising rents on local businesses. As Mavromichalis is one of those landowners, maybe someone should ask him.