Palisades Businesses Report Adjustments, Closures Due to COVID-19

By LILY TINOCO and SARAH SHMERLING

While many Pacific Palisades businesses are continuously adapting to limitations in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, other businesses have had to permanently close their doors.

When Safer at Home orders went into place, restaurants were tasked with offering only takeout, delivery or curbside pickup.

On Friday, May 29, Los Angeles County was approved to move into California’s second stage of reopening, allowing restaurants to offer dine-in services, so long as they follow restaurant guidance and temporary regulations.

A number of restaurants are now open in the Palisades for dine-in, including Casa Nostra, Taj Palace, Modo Mio and Porta Via.

Owner of Toppings Jordin Mendelsohn said the location is open daily. The frozen yogurt spot is playing it by ear, but “business … is really not coming back to what was,” he said to the Palisadian-Post. 

Owner of Cathay Palisades David Leung announced that the restaurant will not be opening for dine-in yet.

“Our biggest concern is how safe it really is,” Leung explained. “We don’t want to start as soon as the gate is opened, because the virus is still very active and we want to gauge the trend a bit longer before we take any reopening action.”

Leung added that it has been difficult and the restaurant is not doing as well as it used to.

“There is a definite dip in volume, but the harder part is actually cost,” Leung explained. “Due to various shortages, from cleaning supplies to meat, our cost has shot up by a lot.”

Ordering for take-out at Cathay is still available.

90272 Dance and Fitness Wear, started by Palisadians Terry Ross and Traci Chorna two years ago, will be closing its doors at the end of June.

“Being such a new store, we were directly and severely impacted by the shut down caused by coronavirus,” Ross and Chorna explained in an email to the Post. “Traci and I were building relationships with all the surrounding schools and theatre groups … Most summer dance programs have been canceled, as well as local musical theatre performances.

“Without knowing if school will return and if activities will resume, we decided to close,” they added.

The store, located at 871 Via De La Paz, will have a final sale from Thursday, June 25, to Saturday, June 27, with 50% off of merchandise and 30% off jewelry.

Additional closures include Robeks Fresh Juices and Smoothies located on Antioch Street.

Beginning June 12, Los Angeles County allowed the reopening of businesses and venues reported as “higher-risk,” including gyms, so long as social distancing guidelines are being practiced.

The Palisades-Malibu YMCA is slated to open on Monday, June 29.

“The health and safety of our members, staff and program participants is our highest priority, so we’ve made some changes to our facilities, procedures and policies and things will also look a little different,” YMCA representatives shared in a statement ahead of the reopening. “We will be opening in phases.”

Some of these additional measures include all members must sign new waiver forms, all facilities will be professionally cleaned and disinfected prior to opening and after closing each day, and high-touch and high-traffic areas will be cleaned throughout the day. All members will be temperature checked prior to entry and exercise equipment will be spaced six feet apart.

The Bay Club opened its Los Angeles locations, including Pacific Palisades, starting Monday, June 15.

“The Bay Club’s operational protocols reflect the most current best practices for safe physical distancing and sanitization,” according to The Bay Club Company Operating Guidelines, published in May 2020.

Phase One of the Bay Club’s procedures include controlling capacities, usage and traffic volumes through a digital reservation system, limiting the number of persons on property at any one time, and concierge level cleaning protocols to ensure “each space is cleaned and sanitized before and after each use.”

As the Post went to print Tuesday, the number of cases of COVID-19 across LA County had reached 75,084 with 2,959 deaths. There were 62 confirmed cases in the Palisades, with eight additional in Palisades Highlands.