Biz Outlook

How’s Del Mar doing? Two of our local business owners give their overview: 

“The Plaza is doing well. We continue to experience more interest in the Plaza from a multitude of tenants, as well as our own tenants doing better now that the pandemic seems to be somewhat under control” reports Plaza owner Patty Brutten. What about the retail space vacated by the Banana Republic? “There is lots of interest. We are working through some good options, but nothing is done yet.”

Stratford Square owner KC Vafiadis: “From my perspective, the businesses are doing pretty well. They are all having staffing issues, and the price of food has risen so dramatically that the restaurants are trying to balance raising their prices which could push away customers or taking a hit to the bottom line. The dynamic of the pandemic and trying to recover from it has been a constantly changing scene with hidden surprises at every turn. Fortunately, the consumer seems to want to get out and support local businesses. For the retail shops, it’s day by day — some are great, other days they see no one. Overall though, I think it’s been a steady recovery for them and as Del Mar continues to recover and fill some of the empty spaces, it should just get better for them. (Hope there is no big recession looming!)” However, continues KC, “There are still a few missing pieces like the empty lots and some underutilized lots like the Berkshire Hathaway property that are important to the overall revitalization of Del Mar.”