This October, the stretch of Artesia Boulevard between Pacific Coast Highway and Hawthorne Boulevard may have a new, albeit familiar name: Redondo Beach Boulevard. While business associations and the city’s Chamber of Commerce are on board, some merchants simply don’t understand why it’s an issue to begin with.
According to an email from North Redondo Beach Business Association Secretary Kathy Swift, the name change would actually be a restoration of Artesia’s original name — the switch occurred in the 1960s, somewhat arbitrarily, she said.
The restoration is the brainchild of the NRBBA, which has pushed for the city to make the name change for quite some time, according to NRBBA president John Gran. The snag, he says, was largely related to the organizational shakeups within the city related to the firing of former city manager Bill Workman.
Now, with calm waters back in City Hall, Gran feels that the city is back in a position to take care of the Artesia Corridor.
“It’s a first step in trying to change everyone’s attitude toward Artesia,” Gran said. “It’s called ‘the corridor’ for a reason: Because people zoom through there as fast as possible, trying to get to the Beach Cities, or trying to get through to the freeway…We’re trying to look at ways to make it a place to stop and shop there.”
The key concern, Gran said, is attracting people to the area, a key concern of the NRBBA. “One of the things we talk about a lot is that North Redondo residents will go to South Redondo, to go out and eat and play, but South Redondo doesn’t go to the North.”
Renaming — or “rebranding” — Artesia as Redondo Beach Boulevard is the first step in what Gran hopes will potentially be a redistricting of the area, so to speak. “It’ll have an identity,” Gran said. “The idea is that [the city would have] the Galleria, the Boulevard, the Pier, the Waterfront, and the Village,” he said, referring to the South Bay Galleria, the proposed Redondo Beach Boulevard, the Redondo Pier, the Redondo Waterfront and Riviera Village, respectively.
The biggest question that Jon McCormick, owner of Aaardvark, a vintage clothing and costume shop at 2621 Artesia Blvd., has is a simple “why?”
“If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Is it for the sake of name recognition?” McCormick asked.
The obvious problem, he feels, would be the clerical work he’d have to face. “I deal with probably 100 to 120 vendors,” he said. “It’s not anything that couldn’t be overcome, it’s just…why?” he said, quickly estimating that the name switch would cost him about $1,000 in time spent on his business.
“I don’t think it’s going to improve the neighborhood, it’s not going to improve property values, it’s not going to improve business…it’s not going to improve anything for anyone but the politicians who say ‘Well, I got the name of the street changed,’” he said.
Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce President Michael Jackson gets the concern from businesses along Artesia, but he feels that this is for the greater good.
“The thing is, we’re not just a Chamber of Commerce; we’re a Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau,” he said. “We’re always trying to increase the visibility of the city in support of local business.”
“We’ve got to respect that there are business owners who are going to have to change their letterhead, and their corporation papers, but I think in the big picture, it’s going to recreate the identity of Redondo Beach,” Jackson said. “It just makes sense to me that if you have a street in Redondo Beach, it’d be great to call it Redondo Beach Boulevard.”
