09/08/2026
🌱🏪 A healthy economy provides a mix of local and corporate businesses. Unfortunately, the deck is often stacked against small local businesses, making it difficult to compete against the giants.
Small businesses often struggle to compete on price with the ruthless cost-discipline and economies of scale of chain businesses. Yet local merchants and service providers actually recycle more of our consumer dollars into the local economy. They're more likely to employ local people and use local suppliers. They're often more active and generous in support of local community causes. Finally, they make a priceless contribution to Pasadena's unique sense of place.
There are two ways we can help local businesspeople succeed against the odds. First is to be their customers. It sometimes takes a little more work to seek them out and sometimes there is a small price premium. But there is an immeasurable benefit in establishing lasting relationships that contribute to One Pasadena.
The second thing we can do is to make it easier for local businesses to succeed. Our zoning code, for example, has grown to 300,000 words. To open a business means navigating a blizzard of often obsolete or even absurd rules, securing a myriad of permits and paying through the nose for the privilege of doing business in Pasadena. Big businesses hate these things too, but they either avoid Pasadena or simply absorb the costs and delays as part of their business model.
We should be discerning consumers and citizens. We should support a range of small, medium and large businesses with our dollars and our political support. For example, one of my favorite places to shop for groceries is the Pasadena Market, next to Connal's on Washington Blvd. It's a tiny market, but offers great meat, fish, produce, cheese and Armenian specialties. Yet I'm also excited that Sprouts will soon be replacing the long-vacant former Rite Aid around the corner at Hill Avenue. Sprouts obviously will be able to offer a wider range and different mix of groceries — so I hope they can happily co-exist if we support both. (Sprouts, by the way, has about 500 stores nationwide. Albertsons/Vons has about 2200 and Kroger/Ralphs has about 2700. The real corporate giants are Walmart, Amazon/Whole Foods and Costco, however. They are eating up an ever-growing share of grocery sales).
