Rules Change in Employee Parking Program

The Hermosa Beach City Council unanimously decides to allow only business owners to purchase employee parking permits in time of need—not their workers.

The Hermosa Beach City Council has decided to change the city's employee parking permit program, which was developed for local businesses. Previously, workers could purchase the permits, but now only business owners would be given that option, the council decided in a meeting Tuesday night. A worker could still use the permit, of course, but their employer would have to purchase it. "That would eliminate the need to verify employees," Mayor Howard Fishman pointed out in the meeting before the council voted 5-0 on the program change. Some residents have complained of motorists using the permits to park for long periods of time or in residential neighborhoods where parking is in high demand. For example, Hermosa Beach resident Lynn Carter, …

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'12 Days of Christmas' Price Tag Grows

If you want the gifts listed in the holiday tune on each of the 12 days, it would add up to $101,119.84, according to PNC economists.

The economy has decided not to take a break this holiday season, according to PNC Wealth Management economists who have found that the price for gifts rose this year—especially if your true love has asked Santa for a partridge in a pear tree. Each year PNC calculates the price tag for all gifts listed in the holiday song, "The 12 Days of Christmas." That's right, all the way down to the drummers drumming. This year, if any Hermosa Beach resident, naughty or nice, wants all of the gifts in the song, it would add up to $24,263.18—which is higher than last year's calculated $23,439. If your true love repeats the verses in the carol, giving the gifts again and again on each of the 12 days, the bill would add up to $101,119.84—which is higher …

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Umami Burger to Open in Hermosa Beach

The restaurant is expanding to Hermosa Beach, offering gourmet hamburgers downtown.

Editor's Note: This article was updated Tuesday at 2:55 p.m. with a quote from the restaurant's founder and tentative time period for opening. Umami Burger on Tuesday morning tweeted and Facebooked news that it soon will launch a new location in Hermosa Beach, bringing "a new burger concept" to town. Hermosa Beach Patch contacted the restaurant group in September to confirm rumors that it was going to expand to the Beach Cities. At the time the response was "we may open there, but nothing has been finalized." Now Eater LA has reported that Umami not only will open a new restaurant downtown at 1040 Hermosa Ave., but the location also will be its first two-story venue. The restaurant group said in a statement sent to Patch on Tuesday …

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Dan Krolczyk

1:16 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012

Yum! Manly burger lived up to its name! Nappy time. Our server/bartender rocks.   more ›

New Wine Shop Coming to Hermosa

Uncorked, a specialty wine and beer shop, opens on Pier Avenue on Saturday.

From a tasteful European Riesling to an Estate Pinot Noir bottled in Oregon, Hermosa Beach shoppers will come face-to-face with wines and beers from around the world when Uncorked opens Saturday. The store's location at 302 Pier Ave. used to house Smokey Hollow Wine & Cheese, which was later replaced by Bottleworx. Then in July, the owners of Bottleworx approached local realtor Gerry Athas-Vazquez to sell their wine shop. "They needed to move to the Pasadena area," Athas-Vazquez said. "I just happened to be talking about it to Kathleen [Knoll] and she said 'Gerry, let’s buy the shop!' And I said 'really?' … She said 'we could make it into something really cool.' " And so they did. Now Athas-Vazquez and business partner Knoll are preparing …

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Iconic Rocky Cola to Close Sunday

Due to failed lease negotiations and tough economic times, owner Wally Curry will be closing the restaurant, he tells Patch.

Red catches your eye at the Rocky Cola Café on Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach—it’s on the '50s-style booths, the counters, lights and even ceiling. "Red gets people excited, gives them energy, and it makes people hungry," said restaurant owner Wally Curry. Its décor and hometown feel has cemented the cafe as an irreplaceable eatery for Hermosa residents, but that will soon come to a big, red stop Sunday. The restaurant is scheduled to close after 20 years. Curry said that he has nothing but respect for the property’s landlord Chris Bredesen, but has to close shop due to an increased rent and a decrease in customers. "He didn’t do anything wrong, we just couldn’t reach an agreement," Curry said. The closure is unexpected for some. "…

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Jobless Rate In Hermosa Slightly Up

The unemployment rate in Hermosa Beach reaches 6 percent after hovering just below, according to new figures released Friday.

Hermosa Beach and Los Angeles County saw small increases in their unemployment rates in July, according to figures released Friday from the California Employment Development Department. After the city's estimated unemployment rate remained stable between 5 and 6 percent, it rose to a solid 6 percent. And the county's unemployment rate slightly increased from 12 percent to 12.4 percent, according to numbers that were seasonally adjusted. The state's unemployment rate also climbed, reaching 12 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationwide, 28 states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rate increases, nine states recorded rate decreases, and 13 states had no rate change, the bureau reported.  At 12 …

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County Jobless Rate Slightly Rises

The unemployment rate in Los Angeles County rises to 12 percent, up from the last recorded 11.9 percent, according to the California Employment Development Department.

Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate slightly rose in June from 11.9 percent to 12 percent, according to figures released Friday from the California Employment Development Department. But just a year ago the county's jobless rate was 12.6 percent. Here in Hermosa Beach, the jobless rate has continued to hover between 5 and 6 percent (see accompanying report under photo.) The largest drop the county saw in jobs was within the educational and health services sector, which posted a loss of 11,900 positions, according to the state’s figures. About 9,500 non-farming jobs in Los Angeles County were lost between May and June, dropping to 3.78 million.    A total of 587,000 people were unemployed in June in Los Angeles County, which has a labor …

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Cigarette Smoke the Main Culprit in Building Warning Signs

Almost everyone has seen those toxic chemical notices hanging in apartment complexes and offices, but Patch decided to find out just how concerned Hermosans really should be.

The signs are all over Hermosa, hanging in parking garages, office buildings and apartment complexes. "This area contains chemical substances known to the state of California to cause cancer, reproductive toxicity and birth defects," they read (see accompanying photo).  These notices have been a part of town, and the rest of the state, since 1986 when California voters passed the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act under Proposition 65. The measure made these signs mandatory in all businesses with 10 or more employees to inform people in the area that they could be exposed to harmful toxins.  An interesting facet of the law is that businesses are required to post a sign stating that chemicals only are present, not detailing which…

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The Greenius Zone

Baiku Bikes Belongs in City, Not on Pier

Our environmental columnist doesn't think the City Council should play Santa at the expense of longterm local businesses.

I've met the Baiku Bikes entrepreneurs Todd Lowenstein and Steve Svajian, and I like them.  These smart, talented men are out to offer commuter bicycles that provide a zero emission transportation link for people to ride to the Green Line station or to work. I like that concept. They want to get people out of cars and onto bikes to cut traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, and I admire that. Baiku Bikes offers a solar-powered, automated bike rental system with eight bicycles in an unmanned rental kiosk that their San Diego partners, Ecotrip, supply. The bikes will be available to Baiku Bike subscribers who pay $9.95 a month plus a one-time setup fee of about $10. Subscribers will then be able to rent the bikes at a rate of $2 to…

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Tom F.

3:05 pm on Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I like the idea of moving it away from the Pier....maybe to Torrance. But locals who are smart enough to get memberships in advance so they can ride home can probably figure out that riding to Pier Plaza is the way to go in the first place. Also, doesn't this take business away from the cabbies (in addition to the bike shops). Maybe riding a bike while intoxicated works pretty well on the Strand…   more ›

Hermosa Businesses Unite in Tough Times

Downtown shops have worked together to attract customers and in the process have avoided the layoffs that have plagued other parts of the state.

Hermosan Brittny Burford, owner and operator of Paciugo Gelato on Hermosa Avenue since 2008, proudly told Patch that she hasn't had to let any of her employees go despite facing a tough economic climate this year. Two of Burford's six original employees are still on staff. "We want to keep them here," she said. "Our employees are more like our family." Just north of Paciugo, Richard O'Reilly of Spyder Surfboards on Pier Avenue feels the same way about his team of 50 employees as Burford does about her smaller crew—they are family. "Some of the guys have been here for a long time," O'Reilly said. "We treat each other well, and it goes beyond work." Investing in employees during the nationwide recession has become a common sentiment—and …

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