As we approach the holidays, it is important to acknowledge the foundation of our city, our small, local businesses. The importance of small businesses is exemplified by the fact that the City has established a Small Business Assistance Task Force led by Council Liaisons Vice Mayor Sharona Nazarian and Councilmember Craig Corman along with Deputy City Manager Keith Sterling and leaders of the Planning and Public Works Departments. “I consider small businesses vital because they give the City its identity,” said Corman.

Specifically, I would like to pay tribute to four of these important pillars of our community who quietly serve us every day. All operate out of a single location are locally owned and bear little resemblance to their more glamorous neighbors. Each one reflects the diverse and distinct background of their owners. Without them and other similar establishments we would not have the same “village” environment that we call home.

The many small businesses are very important to our City. Todd Johnson, President and CEO of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce told me that he considers small businesses to be the backbone of the community.

So I want to share their stories as a way of showing appreciation for the services that they and many other small businesses provide and the contributions they make. You will find that while all of the proprietors are very different, there are important similarities regarding how they have made their businesses succeed.

The businesses are:

Beverliz Cafe on South Beverly Drive

The Beverly Hills Market on North Crescent Drive

Sushi Kiyono on South Beverly Drive

Tesoro (“Best Gift Store Ever”) on North Canon Drive

Beverliz Cafe [308 S. Beverly Drive] was started nearly 25 years ago in 2000 by Arthur Hagopian and his family. Arthur is French-Armenian born in Armenia. He came to the US in 1978 and settled in Hollywood. He has been in the food service business since he was 18 and spent a number of years responsible for the food service for the 28,000 students at El Camino College.

In 2000, he saw an advertisement for a restaurant location for sale in Beverly Hills. As he wanted to go into business for himself he bought it. As the predecessor restaurant was called “Beverliz” and had been in business as a coffee shop since 1984, he decided to keep the name.

Beverliz offers breakfast all day and has an unusually extensive lunch menu but my favorites are the salads. It is open until 4pm six days a week. The ingredients are fresh and Arthur himself sources his own ingredients from the Restaurant Depot.

Arthur loves doing business in Beverly Hills and says that he is always fairly treated. After all, City Councilmembers and other City officials are frequent patrons. Former Mayor Lili Bosse calls Beverliz a Beverly Hills treasure It is truly a family business. Arthur’s wife and two daughters have worked there in the past. Mrs. Hagopian is now busy playing grandma to their four grandchildren. The secret to his success is having great employees including some who have been there for twenty years, offering high quality food and service and greeting everyone with a smile.

The Beverly Hills Market & Deli [303 N. Crescent Drive] has been operated by Shawn Saeedian and his family since 1989. Shawn was born in Tehran, Iran and came to California in 1978 to get his MBA at the College of Notre Dame with the intention to return to Iran. Events intervened, so he stayed in California and moved to Southern California in 1986. He worked in marketing in Pico Rivera but the commute from the westside was too onerous. He opened the Beverly Hills Market & Deli in 1989. The location is in a City-owned building that is operated with the intention of providing stores that provide services to residents. In addition to Shawn’s market, there is a hardware store, bakery and dry cleaners in N. Canon Drive] is the latest incarnation of Beverly Hills native Tara Riceberg’s special gift shops. Tesoro (an Italian word for riches) has one of the most inviting and attractive websites that you will ever find. It describes its mission as follows: “We believe how you give is actually more important than what you give. We’ve been called elves and wrapstars. We call ourselves lucky to be able to design wraps that not only communicate love and appreciation but also that delight people.”

Tara has spent her business career in retail of different types and personally curates all of the Tesoro inventory. Tara now “shops for a living” and is always looking for things you can’t find anywhere else. She is active in the City, is a graduate of Team Beverly Hills, and is a member of the Recreation and Parks Commission.

My conclusion is that these stores and countless others like them are the fabric of our city.

SHOP LOCAL!

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On December 11, I was privileged to attend the City-hosted kickoff dinner for the Mayor’s Summit Against Anti-Semitism at the Beverly Wilshire. It was a beautiful and inspiring event and very well-attended. I estimate that there were approximately 300 people including many local leaders and mayors and members of their staff from around the country. Representatives from approximately 200 cities attended the three day conference.

Four members of the City Council, including Mayor Les Friedman, Vice Mayor Sharona Nazarian and Councilmembers John Mirisch and Mary Nakae Wells gave thoughtful and insightful opening remarks. I was pleased to see many other city leaders including City Treasurer Howard Fisher and Francine Fisher, Deputy City Manager Keith Sterling, Councilmember Mary Nakae City Clerk Huma Ahmed, BHPD Chief Mark Stainbrook, former Mayors Barry Brucker (soon to celebrate the 50th Reunion of BHHS Class of 1975) and Julian Gold, City Attorney Larry Wiener (with whom I share a birthday), former Councilmember Bob Wunderlich, Commissioners Maralee Beck, JR Dzubak, Erica Felsenthal, Deborah Frank and Rebecca Pynoos. The business community was well-represented by Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Johnson, Conference & Visitors Bureau CEO Julie Wagner and Peninsula Hotel Managing Director Offer Nissenbaum among others.

Peter Ostroff is a retired attorney and former Beverly Hills Planning Commissioner.