Can Gum, Chips and Soda Save Local Newsstand?

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge made a motion Wednesday aimed at helping the city's struggling newsstands stay in business.

The motion was made in the city's Public Works Committee to amend the city code to allow newsstand vendors to sell additional sundry items, such as snacks and bottled drinks, but not tobacco products. Under the current code, many stands are only allowed to sell print publications. 

“Newsstands are an important element in the street life of a neighborhood, bringing people together to explore the news of the world,” LaBonge said in a press release. “But these institutions are an endangered species in the information age and we need to update the way we regulate them.”

In an age when many people are more likely to turn to their computer, iPad or Kindle screen than turn the pages of a magazine or newspaper, in Encino, at 18001 Ventura Blvd., is staying alive by offering more than the usual smattering of daily newspapers and weekly tabloids.

Alongside staples such as the Los Angeles Times and People magazine, shoppers will discover a slew of foreign titles that even the keenest Web surfer may not consider. British Vanity Fair, French Vogue and Paris Match, Spanish Cosmopolitan and Glamour line the newsstand shelves next to a juicy selection of foreign tabloids.

Still, newsstand employee Rene Portillo told Encino Patch that sales have dropped 50 percent from four years ago, when he began working behind the counter. Magazine sales far outweigh newspaper sales, he said, undoubtedly due to the continual and rapid updates on news websites.

As a result of this erosion of their customer base, LaBonge said newsstands need to sell more than periodicals and foreign publications to stay afloat. Many Los Angeles newsstands have taken to selling items such as candy, gum, chips, bottled beverages, greeting cards, lottery tickets and tobacco products to augment their income.

But because the Encino stand sits on the public right-of-way—like many of the stands that dot Los Angeles—it is only allowed to sell publications.

The amended ordinance would be applicable only to newsstands that are parallel and adjacent to the wall of a building, and are located within a portion of the public right-of-way.

The issue now goes to the City Council, which will vote on whether to instruct the city attorney to draft an amended ordinance while reviewing newsstand policies in other municipalities, including San Francisco, San Diego, Boston and New York.

“Newsstands are an iconic and historic part of American life—like Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post,” LaBonge said in a press release. “They create a village-like, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere in a neighborhood. Vendors can give directions, and their presence on the street can help with public safety. We’re going to preserve that while updating the City Code that regulates them.”