Report Offers Selling Points for Crenshaw District Growth
A coalition of business and community groups is launching a campaign to attract business and investment to the Crenshaw district, starting with a report that showcases Crenshaw as an area that is underserved by retailers and other businesses compared to the average income and education levels of its residents.
“When you really look at the facts as they are presented in the report, Crenshaw makes a case for itself as a vital economic area,” said D’Ann Morris, president of the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce. “A number of businesses already recognize that reality. We want to increase that number.”
The report, called “Crenshaw: A Community on the Move,” notes that retailers make up only 24% of businesses in the Crenshaw Corridor, which covers the area bounded by the Santa Monica Freeway on the north, Van Ness Avenue on the east, Slauson Avenue on the south and La Brea Avenue on the west. Of the nonretail businesses in Crenshaw, 79% are service-oriented, the report said.
“Compared to similar environments, the composition of the businesses in the Crenshaw area provides growth opportunities for both high-end retail stores and light manufacturing operations,” the report said.
The Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza has attracted Walt Disney Co., Gap and Macy’s stores. The Magic Johnson Theatres is one of the top-grossing movie theaters in the country, the report said. The area’s Lucky supermarket posts sales volume that is in the top 10% of the chain’s 430 stores.
The report, packaged as a slick brochure, will be released today at a business opportunity breakfast sponsored by the United Way at the Magic Johnson Theatres. It was produced by United Way’s Crenshaw Business Task Force as a way to stimulate economic interest in Crenshaw.
“The idea for this brochure came about because many of us in the Crenshaw community felt the need to tell the world how we see our community and why we love it here,” said Daniel Lamaute, an investment banker who chairs the Crenshaw Business Task Force. “Sure we have our problems, but on balance we sincerely believe that the Crenshaw area is one of the best places to live and work in the United States.”
Crenshaw’s demographics show “a large, well-educated local labor force” with 43.6% holding a high school diploma and 19.9% having finished college or graduate school, the report said. Slightly more than 38% of its residents hold sales, administrative or technical jobs; 25.3% hold management or professional jobs; 20.4% hold fabrication or crafting jobs; and 15.9% hold service-related jobs.
While 27.8% of residents bring home annual income of $15,000 or less, an additional 21.3% make $50,000 or more, and 17.6% make $35,000 to $49,999 a year.
The brochure notes that Crenshaw is part of a state revitalization zone, which until 1997 means such financial benefits as credit for hiring employees that meet certain standards as well as other tax breaks.
The report was released through a partnership led by United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which is trying to increase participation in United Way by the African American community. Also involved in the partnership are the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, Los Angeles City Planning Department and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which paid to print the brochure.
The brochure will be distributed to developers and business executives who might be interested in investing in the Crenshaw area, a United Way spokesman said.
