Over 951 New Businesses Open in Santa Monica
April 4, 2022 3:28 PM
by Jennifer Taylor
Updated November 22, 2022
The City of Santa Monica has approved over 951 new business permits in the past year (October 2021 to October 2022) across multiple industries: health and wellness, restaurants, and retail, to name a few. These new businesses are a welcome and vital addition to Santa Monica after the devastating effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on our community and is a promising sign that Santa Monica is moving forward on its economic recovery. Remember, $7 out of every $10 spent locally has a tremendous benefit to our community and delivers vital services through our libraries, public safety, and schools. New businesses are encouraged to share information about their business with the community by tagging @BuyLocalSM and using the hashtag #BuyLocalSM. Let’s Buy Local, Santa Monica!
Here are some of the latest new business highlights (as of October 2022):
Retail: Aviator Nation (2940 Main St clothing + accessories), Ciclique Inc (1314 MT Ave bike shop), Green Bus (2525 MI Ave art gallery), Kulak Ceramics (1453 14th St pottery), Little Japan SM (212 SM Blvd retail pop-up), ShareTea (113 Broadway tea purveyor) + Trader Joe’s (500 Broadway grocery)
Restaurants: Augie’s on Main (2428 Main), Emmy Squared (1920 CO Ave), FlapJax (2313 Wilshire), Heavy Handed (2912 Main), Kalaveras (1026 Wilshire), Layla Bagels (1614 Ocean Park Blvd), Lotus Dim Sum Dumplings (326 Wilshire), Osteria del Fornaio (401 Wilshire), Sol Agave (1733 Ocean Ave), Tavern on Main (2907 Main St) and The Brother’s Sushi (1008 MT Ave)
Health + Wellness: Box 'N Burn Santa Monica Boxing Fitness Gym (3201 SM Blvd), Bunda SM (3008 SM Blvd), Carbon Health Urgent Care (3032 Wilshire Blvd) and Sameday Health (3001 Main St)
Professional Services + Tech: FLYR Inc (3205 Pico), Kong Labs + Studios (3000 Olympic), Uplabs Ventures (2828 Donald Douglas Loop N) and Writers Boot Camp (2525 MI Ave)
Downtown Santa Monica
- Chateau Beauty Bar: 614 Santa Monica Blvd. – A full-service beauty salon that is a female, Black-owned business.
- Berbere by T + T Lifestyle: 510 Santa Monica Blvd. – This Ethiopian vegan restaurant is female-owned, Black-owned business which started off as a pop-up in DTLA food market. Featured in Eater LA as one of “LA’s hottest new restaurants in 2021.”
- Cleopatra INK Los Angeles Studio: 1340 Third Street Promenade – Their only U.S. location. Turkey-based award-winning tattoo brand. Promenade’s first-ever tattoo shop (made possible due to recent City of Santa Monica Zoning Ordinance changes to allow for new types of businesses!).
- Dripology Drip Spa (medical spa): 1411 7th St., Ste 120 – offering IV treatments, founded by two brothers. Minority-owned.
- Trejo’s Tacos: 316 Santa Monica Blvd. – Mexican food from Danny Trejo with classics and modern takes on Mexican cuisine.
- Van Moof: 412 Broadway – This Dutch e-bike bicycle dealer and repair shop makes innovative bikes using new technology with anti-theft guarantees.
- Also be sure to check out the 626 Night Market hosted by DTSM on Lot 27 (5th/Arizona Ave) every 2nd and 4th weekend thru May 31.
Santa Monica Place
- Banter by Piercings Pagoda: 395 Santa Monica Place, Level 2 (next to Pandora) – Find all of your quality fine jewelry needs and piercing options.
- LouLou (opening Spring 2022): 395 Santa Monica Place, Level 3 (near The Cheesecake Factory). A French-Californian restaurant, rooftop, and lounge.
- VinFast (opening Spring/Summer 2022): SM Place, Level 1 (next to True Food Kitchen). Electric cars that are the future of smart mobility.
Main Street
- Gnarwhal Coffee Co.: 3101 Main Street, Unit D. – All Gnarwhal roasted coffee is USDA-Certified Organic, regeneratively farmed, and works with small farms who put the planet first. The company matches 100% of tips in-store and donates to a different cause each month.
- Holey Grail Donuts: 2441 Main St. – opening soon, check out their food truck outside their shop! Hailing from Hawaii, creators of the original Taro donut, opened by siblings Hana and Nile Dreiling who started this business in Hanalei, HI, in 2018. This is their 4th brick and mortar location in the US/world.
- Leon Cycle USA: 2803 Main St. – celebrated their grand opening on 3/12. Founded in 2014, Leon Cycle is one of the largest Pedelec (Pedal Electric Cycle) and e-bike brands in Europe and is now open in Santa Monica.
Montana Avenue
- Buena Vida Tea Bar & Garden: 726 Montana Avenue – Featuring a gorgeous outdoor covered patio, a peaceful space to relax, work and chat. According to the Montana Avenue Merchants Association, Buena Vida has “great pastries, sweet and savory, and a wonderful selection of specialty teas.” They are also a finalist Most Loved Santa Monica 2022 new business!
- Dean’s Barbershop: 1211 Montana Avenue – for guys – a full-service, traditional barbershop, old school service with new school style, cuts, styles, and shaves.
- Last Resort: 1403 Montana Avenue – It’s time to travel again! Best beachwear, retro vibe, high end, and lots of very cool accessories.
- McCall’s Meat and Fish: 1426 Montana Avenue – 2nd location for this quality meat and fish market. Plus grocery pairings, cheeses, expert advice on creating meals at home, and lunchtime deli sandwiches!
Ocean Park
- Hurry Curry of Tokyo: 2901 Ocean Park Blvd. #125 – the legendary Sawtelle curry shop is coming to Santa Monica! Authentic Japanese Curry and Yoshoku Cuisine.
- Jyan Isaac Bread: 1620 Ocean Park Blvd. This legendary bread baked by 19 year old Jyan Isaac Horwitz is appearing on celebrity chef menus across the region and has developed a loyal following in town!
- Shunji Japanese Cuisine: 3003 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Pico Boulevard
- Adriana’s Hair Studio: 2917 Pico Boulevard – Opened in February. Adriana’s passion is hair. “I love creating new looks or just maintaining your style. Through extensive education, I like to stay on top on the latest styles, colors, and cutting techniques.” This new salon opened in the former Pico Merchant Pop-Up space helping to activate and renovate a former vacant shop to a chic new business!
- Go Get ‘Em Tiger: 3110 Pico Blvd. – Coming this summer to the former Wienerschinitzel location. This will be their first drive-thru location. Go Get ‘Em Tiger also recently opened a new location on Main Street and construction is underway for Montana Avenue location.
- Nostalgia Bar & Lounge: 1326 Pico Blvd. – Opened by the self-proclaimed world’s leading Psychedelic Hospitality Group. Pico Blvd. has a fabulous new bar and lounge in the old space where the Speakeasy Bar was located for years and years. The Pico neighborhood is thrilled to have the unique POV that is The Herbal Chef. The hand-crafted cocktails and gourmet small plates are based on throwback vibes, the music is live, and the food is organic. Remember the ice-cold taste of Yoo-Hoo? Visit Nostalgia and be reminded.
Other Districts
- Danziger Gallery: 2525 Michigan Avenue, #B1 – One of the leading photography venues in the world, we are excited to welcome James Danziger to Bergamot Station Arts Center.
- eOne Entertainment: 2700 Pennsylvania Avenue – It's not just small businesses opening in Santa Monica. During COVID, we also welcomed some larger employers to our Bergamot/Mixed Use Creative District including this Canadian film, tv and entertainment company, helping to make world-renowned Peppa Pig a Santa Monica local!
- Tesla Super Charging Station: 1421 Santa Monica Blvd. – Phase I has brought 26 V3 stalls and once Phase 2 is completed, this is reported to be the “largest V3 Supercharger station in the world” with a total of 62 stalls (SM Mirror, 3/22/22). Note: There is also a super charging station at Santa Monica Place (in addition to the Tesla Dealer Showroom) helping to support the growing number of local and regional Tesla owners.
- The RealReal: 200 26th Street – Welcome this former online luxury consignment retailer to their first brick and mortar location in Santa Monica opposite the Brentwood Country Market.
Authored By
Jennifer Taylor
Economic Development Manager