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WEEKEND EDITION
08.12.17 - 08.13.17 Volume 16 Issue 234
@smdailypress
Big Dean’s grows
WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 EXPO LINE ........................................PAGE 3 HUNGER WALK ................................PAGE 5 CRIME WATCH ..................................PAGE 8 MYSTERY PHOTO ............................PAGE 9
@smdailypress
Santa Monica Daily Press
Local website providing national stage for artists HANNAH JANNOL Daily Press Intern
In the age of tech, there is a certain image one has of start-ups that make it. This archetype usually includes a small company that picks up investors, goes to Silicon Valley, eventually goes public and makes the company’s board a large profit. This is not the narrative of Pixels, the world’s largest online art marketplace, headquartered right in Santa Monica on Main Street. Founded in 2006 as Fine Art America by CEO Sean Broihier, Pixels now serves 500,000 artists around the globe, including independent artists as well as massive corporations such as Conde Nast and Williams Sonoma.
Photo by Marina Andalon
BIG DEAN’S: Big Dean’s Ocean Front Café is seeking approval from the Landmarks Commission to
smdp.com
It started as a website for Broihier’s brother who was working at an art gallery. He soon realized creating an e-commerce art website would be a good idea and by 2012, the website surpassed 100,000 members. At that point, he had already become his own boss and was operating the website full time along with three other employees. Now the company employs eight, an unusually small number for an e-commerce company. According to Broihier most websites similar to his, such as cafepress.com or art.com, have hundreds of employees but he said they can get too big for their own good. “What happens is you raise SEE ARTISTS PAGE 7
Los Angeles takes another step toward 2028 Games
expand, adding more restaurant seating and an upgrade to its kitchen facility.
MICHAEL R. BLOOD MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
Local’s might want to start calling it Bigger Dean’s as of next week when the already popular beachfront eatery will be before the Landmarks Commission seeing approval to expand. Big Dean’s Ocean Front Café is located at 1615 Ocean Front Walk, at the foot of the Santa Monica Pier. The business is proposing an expansion into the neighboring unit that will include an expansion to its bar, additional restaurant seating and an upgrade to its kitchen facilities. “It really is a family style restaurant,” said Christine Rohde, Sr. Associate with Arts Architects, the firm overseeing the work. “Because the food service is such a big part of their business, we’re installing a much larger kitchen to meet the needs of the folks that come there. The seating expansion is moderate but the driving force is to have a bigger and
better kitchen.” She said everyone is keenly aware of the cheeseburger’s reputation in Santa Monica and plans to upgrade some of the kitchen equipment were specifically rejected to preserve the handmade burger tradition. “Nothing that we’re doing is going to change that,” she said. Big Dean’s will be occupying a building that is 100 years old. The cluster of buildings on the site were vacated recently following a fire in the residential units that sit above the commercial and Starbucks has been approved to occupy the northern corner of the project. “The property is developed with a singlestory commercial building constructed with a Greek temple motif,” said the staff report. “Constructed in 1917, the unreinforced masonry building was the first of the four SEE BIG DEAN’S PAGE 6
Associated Press
Los Angeles took another step Friday toward bringing the 2028 Olympics to the city, despite questions about future costs. The City Council voted 12-0 to endorse documents at the heart of its plan to stage the Summer Olympics for the third time since 1932. The contract outlines Los Angeles’ financial responsibility in hosting the Games, although a budget for the proposed 2028 Games has not been completed. “This opportunity is too great, we cannot pass it up,” said council President Herb Wesson Jr. The vote took place less than two weeks after the city announced an agreement with international Olympic leaders ceding the 2024 Games to rival Paris, while opening
the way for Los Angeles to host the 2028 Games. In advance of the vote, a council committee took public comment Friday morning, hearing a mix of criticism, praise and encouragement. Steve Ducey of No Olympics LA said the vote would take place without budget analysis. “Shame on you,” he said. Olympic champions Carl Lewis and Janet Evans, who are part of a private committee behind the bid, urged approval of the plan. Lewis, holder of nine Olympic gold medals in track and field, said the Games are not just an event, “it’s about a whole city.” Evans, a four-time gold medalist in swimming, said that watching the 1984 Games in LA inspired her to strive to become an Olympian. SEE OLYMPICS PAGE 4
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