Several Southern California businesses have closed their doors for good. Among them, the popular Sweet Lady Jane Bakery, which closed on New Year’s Eve.
Sweet Lady Jane was founded in 1988 by Jane Lockhart. She sold the business several years ago. It grew to six locations – all of them are now closed.
The closure seemed sudden considering cakes are still on display at the store in Beverly Hills and it was announced just two weeks after the bakery announced a renovation in Encino.
When announcing the closure, the store said, in part, "While the support and loyalty of our customers has been strong, sales are not enough to continue doing business in the state of California."
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Customers like Evan Cowitt are stunned.
“Let me tell you there is sadness in my heart,” Cowitt said. “There have been birthdays, there have been weddings where you knew if it was a Sweet Lady Jane Cake that you wanted to be there.”
But Sweet Lady Jane isn’t the only business that shut down around the New Year.
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Three miles down on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, IHop closed down Jan. 1 and Marco’s Italian Restaurant, also in WeHo, recently shut down, too.
“We have had over 85 businesses close in the last year,” West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Genevieve Morrill said.
“I think it’s a perfect storm of everything happening all at once,” Morrill said. “We had a pandemic that lasted a long time, there’s a lot of back-rent to pay back and loans. A 30% increase in goods and services, there’s the highest inflation we’ve had in a long time.”
And last July the city of West Hollywood set its minimum wage at $19.08 per hour – the highest in the country.
“I think we are very, very concerned that we are going to be one of the most expensive cities to shop, dine, and play in,” Morrill said. “What we have to do is find a balance, how do we focus on helping those that are underserved but at the same time sustaining business so that we can help those that are underserved.”
Back at Sweet Lady Jane, Cowitt wishes there was a way for the bakery to stay open – even if it meant raising prices.
“Had they asked, I would have said yes,” he said. “I would have paid more for cake in order for a living wage to be paid to the people who are making those cakes.”
Sadly, those workers are now out of a job and the bakery is shut down. A sad end for this business that opened in 1988.
