KING CASE AFTERMATH: A CITY IN CRISIS : Chain Stores Act to Assess Losses, Resume Business : Retail: Supermarkets scramble to make products available to customers. Other outlets are also struggling to pick up the pieces.
Trucks loaded with food rolled out of the Food 4 Less warehouses Friday, hauling meat, produce, milk and other necessities to the company’s riot-ravaged Boys’, Viva and ABC supermarkets in South Los Angeles.
Arguably the company most damaged by the fires and rioting--two stores burned to the ground, 30 outlets were heavily looted and losses could hit $30 million--Food 4 Less quickly began the tough task of resuming business, even as some unrest continued.
“This isn’t just our company’s problem, it’s a community problem,” said Food 4 Less President George Golleher, weary after a helicopter tour of the burned and looted outlets. “People will continue looting if they can’t get the food they need. We have to open up.”
Other chain-store operators with outlets ravaged by the unrest began assessing their damage Friday. Where possible, they took the first, difficult steps toward resuming operations in the riot-affected areas.
But, for most, it will hardly be business as usual.
Food 4 Less, which had closed 40 of its 65 stores in Los Angeles at one point due to the disturbances, reopened 20 of those by Friday. But the chain suspended all liquor sales in the primary riot area until further notice.
Broken windows will remain boarded until the threat of further damage has passed. And security staff at all Boys’, Viva and ABC markets has been beefed up, largely by the company’s flying in scarce and in-demand patrol officers from out of state.
Circuit City, three of whose outlets were hit by looting, reopened stores in West Los Angeles and Hollywood. But the electronics emporium’s shop at 18th Street and La Cienega Boulevard, trashed and emptied of its televisions, VCRs and stereos by looters, has been closed indefinitely.
The Broadway, the region’s largest department store operator, closed nine of its outlets in Los Angeles on Friday as a precaution in the wake of the looting of its Baldwin Hills store Wednesday night and threats to other stores throughout Thursday.
Although most Broadway stores are expected to reopen quickly, the Baldwin Hills store--where vandals stole jewelry, clothing and electronics equipment and smashed cash registers--could take several days to clean up and restock.
Fast-food restaurants and convenience-store chains were also hard-hit by vandals. About 28 Jack-in-the-Box outlets were burned and looted of their furniture, cash registers and food supplies, and 25 were so damaged they remained closed Friday.
Paul Schultz, vice president for operations at the chain’s San Diego headquarters, said the company will quickly restock its restaurants from its City of Commerce warehouses and anticipates no food shortages. But he noted it was still far too early to determine how long it will take before operations return to normal.
“We do crisis planning, but there are certain things that even the best crisis management plans can’t begin to anticipate,” Schultz said. “We couldn’t have begun to anticipate the magnitude of the unrest and the sheer size of the area affected by it.”
At HomeBase, a chain of 80 do-it-yourself hardware warehouse stores, President James Halprin said two of its 18 Southern California stores--one in Inglewood and another at Slauson and La Brea in Los Angeles--were closed early Thursday out of concern for employees’ safety. But later, at the request of law enforcement officials, the stores were reopened to supply badly needed plywood and nails to those seeking to repair or protect their businesses.
HomeBase’s problems in seeking to resume business pale in comparison to those of Food 4 Less.
Golleher said about 25% of the chain’s stores experienced power outages, resulting in spoilage of meats, dairy goods, produce and other refrigerated items.
In addition, he said that because shoppers in the riot areas are buying in unusually large quantities, the supermarkets are having difficulty keeping their shelves stocked. Golleher said employees of the closed supermarkets have been temporarily reassigned to other outlets to keep up with the large number of shoppers.
But he acknowledged that stores would have a smaller selection of products than usual.
“We’re going to have soda pop, but it may not be the exact brand you want. We may not have extra lean pork, but there will be meat,” he said. “And we may not have asparagus, but we will have produce.”
Times staff writer Dean Takahashi in Orange County contributed to this report.
Damage to Businesses
As of Friday afternoon, here is the damage sustained sustained by selected firms during rioting in the Southland.
LOOTED/ LOCATIONS CLOSED ESTABLISHMENT DAMAGED BURNED FRIDAY American Savings Bank 2 0 45 Bank of America NA NA 160 Broadway 2 0 9 Circuit City 3 0 2 First Interstate 1 0 40 Food 4 Less 40 2 23 Jack-In-The-Box 27 1 25 Lucky 1 0 2 May Co. 1 0 5 Ralphs 1 0 2 Sears 2 1 3 Taco Bell 5 2 37 Thrifty 14 4 29 Vons 3 0 6 Winchell’s 7 4 11
NA: Data not available SOURCE: Listed companies
