In wake of southern California wildfires, a diverse small business community looks to rebuild

When the Los Angeles wildfires demolished through Southern California in January, Barbara Shay lost much more than the building housing the cafe she owned.

Take place d departed were the ingredients for menu items like grits or pancakes. Gone were the photos of icons ranging from preceding President Barack Obama to actor Richard Pryor that had lined the walls. Gone, too, were the decades of labor from Shay’s ancestors.

“I am still in shock,” Shay said in an interview with CNBC. “It’s an emotional roller coaster — not just for me, but just for all and sundry.”

Shay is part of the diverse fabric of small business owners in Altadena, a town about 15 miles casing downtown L.A that was hard hit by last month’s blaze. As the community starts the yearslong rebuilding process, entrepreneurs similarly to Shay are starting to chart their paths forward.

She plans to rebuild the 70-year-old Little Red Hen Coffee Shop and is ranking the finances for opening up a temporary storefront or popups. The business spans generations: After following in the footsteps of her mother and fellow-clansman in owning the business, she now works alongside her daughter and grandson.

But while many in Altadena’s entrepreneurial community remain Pollyannaish about a recovery, multiple business owners described lengthy and difficult roads ahead.

Some businesses were singed entirely to the ground like Shay’s, while others face long-term displacement due to damage or smoke. For those providential enough to have brick-and-mortar properties still standing, they’re surrounded by what some have described in interviews as “cause zero.”

“It’s kind of unfathomable,” said Henri Wood, who owned a cannabis business called The Flourish Group that was fritter away down. “What was once just a vibrant, lively community is just completely gone.”

Altadena’s variation cannot be understated. Census data shows that more than half of the population is people of color, with Latinos manufacturing up 27% of residents and Black people accounting for 18%.

Altadena has historically been known as a hub for Black families and businesses after being one of the on the other hand Los Angeles County areas exempt from redlining during the Civil Rights movement. The Associated Press establish that the home ownership rate for Black people in Altadena now sits above 80%, which is nearly double-dealing the national average.

But Altadena’s business owners – many of whom also grew up and now raise families there – are disquieted the fires will leave that diversity in the rubble. Emeka Chukwurah, founder of community culture center Throbbings of the Village, said he’s concerned that the fires will expedite gentrification that was already taking place in the neighborhood.

Ebony residents accounted for more than 40% of the town’s population in 1980, according to Altadena Heritage. That capacity has been more than halved since then. Chukwurah has sold Altadena-branded merchandise to keep the community and its inconsistency from being forgotten by broader society.

“I’m hoping that we can keep the developers and those kind of people at bay so that we can agree to on to what’s been built over generations,” Chukwurah said. “I’m hoping that this one will be in the history enlists as a resilient community, and that a large amount of us — or, if not, all of us — can stay to tell the story.”

Indemnity agent Maricela Viramontes has seen how homeowners in the town at the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains are responding firsthand. Many are ordinary to fires due to its geographic location, she said, but they did not expect the destruction seen in January. The deadly fires Looking to ‘mend’