Restaurants, dry-cleaning businesses worried about economic impact of ongoing writers strike
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It's business as usual at Milt & Edie's dry-cleaning and laundry in Burbank, but three weeks into the writers strike, so many different types of businesses who service the Hollywood industry fear what's coming.
"We're coming out of COVID and that had hurt business as well, and now things are returning back to normal and now we're facing this other strike so we are concerned about it. A big part of our business is studios and we're right in the heart of the media district... so any sort of a strike will definitely effect our business," said Robert Shapiro, the General Manager at Milt & Edie's.
Some striking writers, or those out of work because of the shutdown, are already cutting back on spending.
WGA strike causes industry-wide economic fallout as shows such as 'Stranger Things' halt production
"I've talked to some folks in the industry that have pulled back on expenses. They've pulled back on summer vacations. They've cancelled summer camp for their kids. If folks aren't going to breakfast like they used to, that impacts the restaurants. If folks aren't getting their haircut like they used to, that impacts barbers," said Stuart Waldman, the President of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, VICA.
The 2007 writers strike resulted in loses to California's economy estimated at around $2.1 billion overall, with nearly 38,000 jobs lost, according to a Miliken Institute study. If the economic impact of this strike is similar to the one in 2007, it could cost California $30 million per day in today's dollars.
"There's only so many productions that happen during a given day or time period in Los Angeles. So, you can't double that, you can't triple that. There's just not enough space or enough people. You have folks who work on movies that then bounce to a commercial that then bounce to a TV show. Then, bounce back to a movie. Those folks aren't working right now. So when everything comes back, they're missing that money," said Waldman.
"A lot of people are going to be out of work and dry cleaning is disposable income. When people don't have income coming in, they're not going to be able to get their clothes cleaned," said Shapiro.
On Tuesday, it was announced the daytime Emmys scheduled to take place in June will not occur because of the writers strike. The June 16 ceremony will take place at a later date.
