Valley Businesses Languish in State of Aftershock

In Sherman Oaks, the dreaded red tag has closed 3,000 apartments and condos. A 13-story office tower on Ventura Boulevard has been shut down. The roof collapsed at Sav-On. The Gap and Banana Republic have removed their stock from La Reina Fashion Plaza.

Michael Ourieff assumes everything and everyone will be back in time. But will that time come soon enough?

Ourieff is the proprietor of Michael J’s Italian Kitchen in Sherman Oaks, which enables him to see the less obvious effects of the Jan. 17 earthquake--the way this temblor has put cracks in daily commerce. Before the ground shook, Ventura Boulevard was probably the most vibrant street in all of Los Angeles. Now terms like “ghost town” crop up.

That is overstating it, but Ourieff estimates that local business is down 30% in his eatery. He wonders whether his family restaurant, now in its 11th year, can survive.

So one day last week, the restaurateur shared his problems with somebody who might be able to make a difference. And U.S. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown promised that he’d try to help.

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Don’t be surprised if you hadn’t heard about Brown’s visit. Ron Brown didn’t want the media tagging along Feb. 2 when he helicoptered onto the roof of Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center. His visit to the Ventura County town of Fillmore earlier the same day was a public show. There, Brown was able to personally deliver four checks to homeowners and business people who need emergency aid.

At Sherman Oaks, there was no press conference, no photo op. This was Brown’s decision, according to Jeff Brain, an immediate past president of the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce who helped arrange the visit. Perhaps Brown just didn’t want to deal with pesky questions. Brain prefers to think that Brown simply wanted to concentrate on business.

Sherman Oaks is an excellent place to get a feel for the far-flung impact. Media images of the quake have been dominated by broken freeways and the destruction within Northridge. But Sherman Oaks, built on land that was sometimes under water when the Los Angeles River ran wild, incurred inordinate damage as the ground shook like Jell-O.

A survey by a city panel that oversees planning for the 17 miles of Ventura Boulevard suggests that businesses in Sherman Oaks suffered more damage than Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino and Studio City combined. In Woodland Hills, destruction along the boulevard was estimated at $1.9 million--mostly damaged inventory and broken windows. It was $2.1 million in Tarzana, $2 million in Encino, and $7.1 million in Studio City. The Sherman Oaks stretch of the boulevard, meanwhile, incurred $27 million in damage.

Not long after the quake hit, Brain gave Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) a tour of the damage in the east end of his congressional district. Later, Brain did the same for James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. When Brain discussed the business troubles along the boulevard, Witt said there was little FEMA could do and suggested that Brown was the man to see.

So the visit was arranged. A group of about 35 business and political leaders met with Brown. City Council members Laura Chick and Zev Yaroslavsky attended along with representatives of Valley business organizations. A vice president of Bullocks Macy flew in for the meeting. And Ourieff came over from his restaurant.

The Valley was already hurting due to the cutbacks in the aerospace industry. Now, according to one estimate, the quake put 20,000 more people out of work. Questions loom about whether landlords will rebuild or walk away from damaged buildings. There is worry that the economic ripple could become a tsunami, washing away many more jobs.

“I told Ron Brown, if we don’t do something, this is going to have a trickle down effect,” Ourieff said. “If I don’t survive, I’m going to lay off my 25 people. . . . And there’s a lot of businesses in a similar situation.”

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For all the gloomy scenarios, Ourieff and Brain came out of the meeting hopeful. Brain says the Commerce Department is trying to set up three new loan programs to help businesses that may not qualify for assistance from the Small Business Administration or the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Ourieff, a Van Nuys native, says he’ll put everything into saving his restaurant. He’s already filled out his SBA application. Now he waits and hopes and remembers what President Clinton’s Commerce secretary had to say.

“WHat he said was at this point we don’t have a vehicle to help you with this type of situation--and what we’re here to do is create that vehicle,” Ourieff recalled.

“Whether that’s rhetoric, I don’t know,” he added. “But I liked what he had to say.”