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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Valley Shops Find Mixed Realities With TV Exposure

Burbank casting agency, Pitman Casting, is on the lookout for struggling small businesses in the area that could use a helping hand to get back on their feet. The businesses will be featured in a new reality show, which has yet to be titled, created by the producers of existing programs “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Trading Spaces.” With a focus on family-owned businesses that are struggling, the producers have enlisted British entrepreneur Peter Jones to help save the companies. The agency declined to disclose the network the show would appear on. The Valley region is home to both producers and participants of popular reality TV shows. While some say the limelight has helped boost business, others have been hurt by the attention and have nearly crumbled from the exposure. Todd Yasui, casting producer for Pitman Casting, said the company has received a large response from struggling companies hoping to get some air time. In the current economic climate, “there is no shortage of businesses having a hard time,” he added. While the casting is open to all types of businesses, Yasui said the company is avoiding restaurants and salons, two industries that already have received a great deal of exposure on the small screen. Indeed, local eateries such as French bistro La Frite Café and cupcake shop Sweet Arleen’s have been impacted by the food craze that has taken over television networks. For Arleen Scavone, owner of Westlake Village-based bakery Sweet Arleen’s, a successful stint on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” helped propel her new business venture to new heights. The “banker turned baker” had only been in business a few months when the show’s producers approached her in 2010 to appear on the televised competition based on creating innovative and professional-style cupcakes. Scavone took home the grand-prize on the July 27 show. And that ushered in a wave of new business that the staff at Sweet Arleen’s was not prepared for. “We had no comprehension of what it would do,” Scavone said. “There was good and bad.” The first few weeks were “ugly,” with lines out the door and stretching on to the sidewalk. Bakers worked 12-hour days and ingredients and packaging ran out. Within the first few months of the show airing, sales tripled. Last year, the company competed and won “Cupcake Wars” for a second time. This time around, Scavone and her team were prepared for what was to come. “We had overstock of items, we had good staffing and we did not feel the rough road that we had after the first air,” she said. Riding on its television success, Sweet Arleen’s invested in expanding the business, pursuing several ventures including a mobile food truck, in-store baking parties, and, of course, new cupcakes. In 2011, the shop’s sales increased by 50 percent. “Cupcake Wars accelerated our growth,” she said. “We never know what it would have been like if we wouldn’t have had it.” For other establishments, the aftermath of a televised airing was not completely beneficial to business. La Frite Café, a French-themed restaurant, has been serving the Valley with its locations in Woodland Hills and Sherman Oaks for nearly 40 years. Founded by Andre Ramillon, the business was in a state of transition when it was approached by producers of Fox network’s “Kitchen Nightmares” about 18 months ago. “There was a changing of the guards,” said Celine Ramillon, general manager of La Frite and daughter of Andre. “My brother and I were stepping in more.” The show’s star, Chef Gordon Ramsay, stepped in to whip the struggling eatery into shape by revamping the restaurant’s interior, creating a more condensed and authentic French menu and implementing some changes to the kitchen staff. While the changes were meant to improve the business and attract new clientele, some also alienated regular customers, who were accustomed to La Frite’s old operations and menus. “People were basically screaming at us for three months,” Celine said. “They would say ‘You don’t have our hamburgers anymore. We’re out of here!’” Restaurant sales took a nose dive in the first half of last year, and Celine and her brother realized they had lost an important component to their business. La Frite’s current menu is now a blend of Ramsay’s ideas, classic favorites and new items developed by the La Frite staff. As customers and the kitchen staff have become comfortable with the new menu, business is growing again, Celine said, adding that the experience taught the company a valuable lesson. While the publicity and attention from reality television can have its benefits, it is important for business owners to remain connected with their core customers, she said. “Reality shows are not as involved as you are,” she said. “Someone comes in for a week and pretends to know your clientele. Listen to what they say internally but in the long run listen to your customers.”

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