Los Angeles’ Melrose Avenue has become a vestige of its 1990s hustle and bustle, after decades-old stores closed.
It was also a place where locals could regularly see music legend Madonna hanging around and where the ‘Melrose Place’ show was filmed.
For decades, stores like Aardvark’s Odd Ark popularized used clothing stores, and LA Eyeworks had icons like Grace Jones and Andy Warhol modeling its extravagant glasses.
Dom DeLuca, owner of skate shop Brooklyn Projects, who has called Melrose home since 2002, told SFGate, “When you looked down the street on a Tuesday or Thursday, there were people as far as you could see.” It was like CityWalk, at Universal Studios.’
But modernization and a rising crime rate in the city have caused many of those stores to close and chased avant-garde punk rockers off the street.
The iconic street, once known as the pinnacle of ‘California Crazy’, used to be a hotspot for people looking for locally made accessories, conversational art pieces and vintage clothing.
It was also a place where locals could regularly see music legend Madonna hanging around and where the ‘Melrose Place’ show was filmed.
Dom DeLuca, owner of skate shop Brooklyn Projects, who has called Melrose home since 2002, told SFGate, “When you looked down the street on a Tuesday or Thursday, there were people as far as you could see.” It was like CityWalk, at Universal Studios
Mexican institution restaurant Antonio’s closed its doors after more than 50 years in recent times and Grill Argentino Lala’s suffered a fire in the kitchen and has not reopened.
A popular vinyl store called Vinyl Fetish also closed.
and youThe pscale pub known as the Village Idiot also closed last year, while an Italian venue called Spartina said goodbye last month.
The images further show that a burger joint called ‘The Burger That Ate Los Angeles’, which was shaped like a giant cheeseburger, has now been converted into a regular brown building Starbucks.
According to store owners, business has declined in recent years and sales are not the same as they were in the 90s or even the 2000s.
A rising crime rate may also be the reason why Melrose Avenue is no longer the same.
The images further show that a burger joint called ‘The Burger That Ate Los Angeles’, which was shaped like a giant cheeseburger while glass bricks formed ketchup and onions, has now become a normal gray building of Starbucks.
A popular vinyl store called Vinyl Fetish also closed. An upscale pub known as the Village Idiot also closed last year, while an Italian venue called Spartina said goodbye last month.
According to merchants, business has decreased in recent years and sales are not the same as in the 90s.
The Mexican institution Antonio’s restaurant closed its doors after more than 50 years, in recent times Lala’s Argentino Grill Restaurant also suffered a fire in the kitchen and has not reopened.
In August 2023, a robbery occurred around 1 a.m. outside Craig’s on Melrose Avenue.
According to authorities, two robbers approached the victims and demanded their personal belongings.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said two masked suspects approached two victims outside Craig’s.
The suspects, both dressed in dark clothing, were carrying guns and stole one of the victim’s watches before fleeing the scene.
A third suspect took the group away in a white car, authorities said.
Luckily, no one was injured in the dramatic incident outside the establishment.
A robbery occurred in front of Craig’s on Thursday: “one of the most celebrity-packed restaurants in Los Angeles” is under investigation. Pictured: Police outside Craig’s in West Hollywood
The robbery may be related to another July event that was caught on camera less than a mile away, where the victims were held at gunpoint by three suspects.
The robberies come amid a surprising increase in similar incidents in West Hollywood and the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which has been plagued by crime.
West Hollywood has a higher crime rate than the state of California with 5.67 violent incident events per 100 residents, according to neighborhood explorer.
Residents have a 1 in 176 percent chance of becoming victims in the area compared to a 1 in 227 percent chance in California as a whole.
Additionally, there are about 783 crimes per square mile in West Hollywood. That number is more than 29 times the national average of 26.2.
Recent violent incidents in surrounding areas also suggest that crime is increasing and will not decrease anytime soon.