Don’t ask Karl Johansson about his favorite magazine or newspaper.
Though he has been working at the Village Center Newsstand for more than
two decades, he rarely reads the products he sells. For him, the job is more about forming connections with the community. “If you stand in people’s path every day for 20 years, you hear a lot
of stories,” Johansson said, leaning against the worn counter of his
stand. “I get to be an important part of people’s lives, whether it is
just a friendly face or a deeper support. That is the most rewarding.” His newsstand on the corner of Kinross Avenue and Westwood Boulevard
is wrapped around a decades-old tree and sandwiched between two empty
storefronts. Over the past few years, the stand’s regular client base has steadily
declined. More recently, a dramatic drop in profits coupled with rising rent has made it difficult for Johanssonto keep the stand afloat.
Johansson will close the newsstand – the last in the Village – by the end of the month.
Emptying storefronts in Westwood and a media shift to focus on more
online content contributed to the newsstand’s rapid decline of sales,
Johansson said. He added that he thinks students had fewer reasons to
venture into the Village as UCLA expanded and offered more services on
campus...*
Full story from the Daily Bruin at http://dailybruin.com/2014/06/09/westwoods-last-newsstand-a-community-fixture-to-close/
*Next thing you know, UCLA will build a Grand Hotel! Seriously, although the university says it wants a prosperous Westwood without all the empty stores, it can't have it and - at the same time - have the campus become a self-contained, indirectly subsidized, food, lodging, and shopping center.
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