New Shops at UCLA Draw Complaints From Merchants

A group of Westwood shop owners who contend that expanded retail operations at UCLA have hurt business is asking the university to place a moratorium on further campus development.

More than 100 merchants in Westwood Village have signed a petition claiming that they cannot fairly compete with new restaurants and retail stores on campus because of a university policy prohibiting the distribution of commercial fliers. Instead, they say, they are forced to take out advertising in the campus newspaper at higher rates than on-campus advertisers.

Merchants said the general economic decline in Westwood has been exacerbated by the pull of increased campus businesses, including new food services.

“In the last two years, we’ve noticed that less people are coming into Westwood to eat lunch,” said Gary Avrech, publisher of the Student Shopper, a publication distributed on local campuses that contains advertisements from merchants. “We used to have an outpouring of people from UCLA at lunch. The harm has been terminal for many.”

Avrech said in the next few days he will present university officials with the petition asking campus businesses in competition with Westwood shops to cease operations, saying the businesses are subsidized by the state. But student association officials said their financial operation is independent of the university and that they do not receive state money.

But officials of the students’ association, an independent organization that runs the student union, said UCLA’s retail operations are not responsible for the downturn in Westwood and added that in the last few years, extensive construction and renovation on campus chased away many university customers.

“Far from competition that would impact their customers, we lost significant business, both students and tourists,” said Patricia Eastman, executive director of the students’ association.

The association opened a new $30-million student union this week that includes a cafe and high-end retail stores, sparking increased concerns among local businesses.

“They should be able to sell the necessities--the books, supplies. But to compete directly with merchants in the village is going above and beyond,” said Steve Neuburger, one of the partners who operates Don Antonio’s, an Italian restaurant on Westwood Boulevard. “They’re undercutting prices of everyone in the village.”

Association officials said they want a good relationship with Westwood businesses, but added that the role of the nonprofit association is to serve the needs of students.

“It’s part of our basic mission to provide food services to students,” Eastman said. “The students need places to eat and the dining facilities also become study facilities on campus. It’s unrealistic for them to go all the way to the village between classes or late at night.”

Business owners said they cannot reach the campus population because distributing commercial leaflets and publications on campus is prohibited, a policy they said infringes on their 1st Amendment right.

University legal counsel investigated their concern, but concluded that the constitutional right of advertisers was not being violated.