Comments on Eric Nakamura: Sawtelle - where we're at today

That place is embarrassing and an eyesore. I crin...

2007-04-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

That place is embarrassing and an eyesore. I cringe every time I walk past it. What's next, a Nix Check Cashing?

when the previous owner/tenant was closing down th...

2007-04-20T04:04:00.000-07:00

when the previous owner/tenant was closing down their biz, i was wondering what 'cool' store will take over... when i saw it last week, i was so disappointed!! ew... i live about 20mins away and frequent sawtelle alley every week... tgo just seems so 'out of place' there.

It's good to know that you & GR are doing well eno...

2007-04-20T03:12:00.000-07:00

It's good to know that you & GR are doing well enough financially to put in a bid! It's really encouraging to see JA's succeed in areas outside of law, medicine, engineering. I always use GR as an example for my struggling artist/design pals who wonder if they should've listend to their nagging rents and just gone to professional school.

Although I remember stopping into Yamaguchi's every Saturday after J-school many yrs ago, honestly I really didn't patronize them after I discovered Marukai.

The whole Sawtelle area has changed demographically in the past 10~15 yrs with so many of my friends' parents/grandparents dying or moving away. Yamaguchi's closure and sale are emblematic of the shift.

Maybe you can make an offer to Save & Safe or Granada Market or even Jo-Mi Plumbing for their properties? I don't know how much longer they will be around.

ftl, you're right on this entirely. Yet they act l...

2007-04-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

ftl, you're right on this entirely. Yet they act like they care(d). That's the part that's dishonest and greedy. You usually can't have both benevolence and greed together.

You can't stop people from buying buildings... What goes in, can be somewhat controlled, but people are lazy.

I agree that the store and sign is not very nice. ...

2007-04-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

I agree that the store and sign is not very nice. Just want to clarify - who is the greedy one? the previous owners who sold to the highest bidder, or the winning bidder/current owner? Seems like the current owner couldn't be making that much money renting to the TGO. If they are planning to eventually tear down the current structure and build something new, it may take a year or two to get approvals and permits.That's a long time to be paying the mortgage without any return on investment.
As for the previous owner - if it was a sale by the inheritors, they probably just wanted to get as much as they could, without caring about the community. This is usually the case.

I remember once you mentioned a townhall meeting f...

2007-04-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

I remember once you mentioned a town
hall meeting for the Sawtelle area.
Is there a way a document for an
architectural and design guidelines
to be written up for new
buildings and signage coming in? Little
Tokyo just got one approved last year
because of all of the new developments
coming up.

Also, their main community group is able
to determine what kinds of businesses
can exist in Little Tokyo. Although, I know
they have a lot of help through the
City Hall and Community Redevelopment
Agency.

Do the town meetings talk about issues
like these?

Not living in West LA, I still frequent Sawtelle t...

2007-04-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Not living in West LA, I still frequent Sawtelle twice, sometimes 3 times a week. My patronage runs from Nijiya, GR, GR2, Yakitoria, Chabuya, and on...

When I saw this store this weekend I was sickened. My only hope is that everyone feels the same way and that the lack of traffic and consumption will close it quickly.

Sad and short sighted of the owner. You guys are ...

2007-04-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

Sad and short sighted of the owner. You guys are the heart and soul of Sawtelle. Good shall overcome.

BUMMER. I grew up going to Yamaguchi whenever my ...

2007-04-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

BUMMER. I grew up going to Yamaguchi whenever my family went to Sawtelle. Up until a few years ago, I would still drop in to get a soda or some gum after a GR shopping binge.

that's a really nice corner spot. maybe you could ...

2007-04-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

that's a really nice corner spot. maybe you could infiltrate the place and fake ghosts-apparitions and scare them out or have some old guy go there and tell a story of murder and terror to them about the place. or you could boycott them somehow. i dont know, im just shooting off the bark here. good stuff

We were very upset to see Tokyo Garment Outlet. Su...

2007-04-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

We were very upset to see Tokyo Garment Outlet. Sun-Min and I both yelped "WHAT!? No!" when we saw that. How much is the rent? Or does that shop belong to the current owner? Not good.