Article by Ashley Ratcliff
Peninsula News - Our Town – 2007

Chamber driven to help local businesses prosper

Although the business climate on the Hill fluctuates, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce continues to look for ways to keep businesses on an upward swing.

Barbara Dye, chair of the board of directors, said given the type of community that Palos Verdes is, the chamber aims to support local businesses in a number of ways.

“Our chamber is different from many because we don’t have a lot of big business here,” she said. “There’s a lot of small businesses, but we still have an important role to play in providing networking, representing them before government, legislative advocacy and working together to make a better business community.”

With more than 800 businesses in the Palos Verdes community, the chamber’s primary focus is to serve as an advocate for them, said President and CEO Kay Finer. “The way we can help contribute to making businesses prosper is by giving businesses an opportunity to market their goods and services through the chamber, by participating in our committees, by providing marketing information for them and educational tools, through programs we offer and guiding them to resources in the community.”

Finer said the chamber itself is continuing to grow. “I think that’s a positive reflection on the community,” she said. “We’re close to 500 members and we’ve seen a 20-percent increase in members this year … Members are conveying to us that we’re helping to facilitate more business referrals.”

A helping hand

Keri Gilbert, chair-elect of the chamber, said reaching out to underrepresented industries is one strategy the chamber has used to aid smaller businesses. “Some companies are more apt to join than others,” she said, “and we’d like to get some new ones out there because they don’t always realize what we can offer them.”

Gilbert said the chamber is dedicated to facilitating interaction among area businesses. “We do a lot of outreach to businesses and work on networking events to get the businesses knowing each other, working together and building relationships,” she said.

On top of these events, the chamber hosts programs jointly with the Palos Verdes Library District targeting small business owners. Dye said they also are building a more active Legislative Advocacy Committee that speaks on behalf of local business issues.

In order to hear concerns and feedback from business owners directly, this year the chamber established a Business Development Committee, Dye said. “We held our first forum to give the community and businesses a chance to say what it is they would like, what would make their businesses more successful,” she said. “Because there’s a certain critical mass of business you need for people to want to stay and shop here. It’s our job as a chamber to help the business community be more successful.”

Quality versus quantity

There are several merchants in the Rolling Hills Estates commercial district, including two major shopping centers, The Avenue of the Peninsula and the Peninsula Shopping Center.

Finer said the chamber also keeps an eye on shopping areas in Palos Verdes Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes. “We have Golden Cove, Lunada Bay, Miraleste, the Western Corridor and Malaga Cove Plaza,” she said. “These are all business satellite areas that we are also very focused on supporting and providing resources to.”

A newcomer may anticipate a bank-breaking shopping experience in Palos Verdes because of its population’s high per-capita income level. However, Dye said contrary to popular belief, residents desire affordable goods, shops and services.

“Several times, when new business owners come in to [The Avenue of the Peninsula], they put in these high-end boutiques that Palos Verdes just isn’t going to support,” she said. “It’s not that kind of community. It’s a very meat-and-potatoes community — [people] want value … It’s not a wild spending community by any means.”

Above all, residents want quality when shopping at centers on the Hill, Finer said.

“What defines us, as compared to other shopping areas, is customer service, convenience, close to home, a little more secure feeling when you’re shopping.” she said. “There aren’t major crowds, so it’s easy to shop quickly. Everyone’s time is so precious these days that I think that’s why those who have been shopping here regularly enjoy that. There’s really friendly people here, and I think that’s the hallmark of a shopping experience on the Peninsula versus other areas.”

Dye said a prevalent trend is Peninsulans frequenting neighboring malls for their shopping needs. “I think people get in the habit of going to Del Amo or South Coast Plaza,” she said. “Of course, we can’t compete on the number of stores, but the mix of stores here is really good. That’s something we want to try to communicate.”

While business at these South Bay malls is booming, Gilbert said there isn’t a place for those types of centers on the Hill. “We’re a slower community,” she said. “We don’t have as many people. We have a high per-capita income, but there’s still only a limited number of people. I don’t think anybody would want that kind of atmosphere.” 

‘Shop, Dine and Do - Business on the Peninsula’

Realizing that locals cross city limits to shop has prompted the chamber to adopt a new strategy for keeping business here.

“We’ve started this program of “‘Shop, Dine and Do Business on the Peninsula’,” and we’re trying to work through the business community to figure out ways that we can help them in their businesses,” Dye said.

Finer added, “This is our branding for marketing the Peninsula, because there’s so many wonderful stores, restaurants and great merchandising that are already here. It’s getting the message across to our residents to perhaps think about shopping here first to find things they might need before going outside the community.”

Speaking as a Peninsula resident, Gilbert said staying in PV to shop is an enjoyable experience. “I like to do my shopping up there,” she said. “Personally I don’t like the big malls. I like to [shop] where I can park and not walk too far and go to the stores I want.”

Residents sometimes fail to see the importance of shopping in the local centers, Finer said. “It keeps your tax dollars here so that we continue to have the safe communities we’re used to and the good roads we’re used to,” she said. “All those tax dollars come here to support our quality of life.”

Locals shop at other South Bay centers for the variety they offer, but bringing larger retailers to the Hill is a catch-22, Finer said.

“To attract the larger business, they need to have demonstrated to them that there’s foot traffic here, that there’s patronizing of local business,” she said. “If we want to attract retail operations, we need to [shop] here first and that will demonstrate to the others that there is a need here to do business successfully.”

Dreams of what’s to come

Chamber board members constantly are devising plans to keep businesses on the rise, focusing on what the future may bring to the Peninsula area.

One of the chamber’s potential ventures is combined marketing for small businesses, Dye said. “Advertising is expensive,” she said. “Maybe if we were able to bring 10 restaurants together and they all paid for part of an ad in an advertising campaign, then that’s one way we could be helpful.”

The chamber is working to research the types of businesses where residents say they will shop, Finer said. Some of these desired merchants are Target, Trader Joe’s, Nordstrom Rack and a centrally located hardware store.

“Most of the larger retail operations require considerable space, and in some places we don’t have that,” Finer said. “There’s some creative ways that I think the two major shopping centers are looking at potentially, so there definitely is an eye on the future.”

Although these dreams may be wishful thinking, Finer said the Peninsula can count on a successful business climate.

“I think there will be continual growth,” she said. “But this is still a bedroom community, and we only have so much real estate to provide for retail and professional services. So within that is trying to bring in some additional business services and continue to improve the ones we have.”

Under the chamber’s supervision, Gilbert said she sees a successful business community in the years to come. “I think we’ve got a lot to offer,” Gilbert said. “A lot of people already know that, but not everybody does. What we’d like to see is businesses flourishing here. We’d like to see all the malls and shopping centers bustling. We want all of them to be able to thrive.”

Dye added, “I’d like to see even more of the businesses join the chamber because I think there’s strength in numbers.”