At nearly 60, how far off can retirement be for the second generation? To convince Mr. Surfas that in the interest of the greater good he should step aside and part with four of his buildings (on National and on Washington) City Hall, in its third and “final” offer three weeks ago, suggested that he accept their bid of $4.89 million and disappear. “It is not about money,” he told thefrontpageonline.com. “But the figure should be closer to $8 million.” Mr. Surfas’ main address, at 8777 Washington Blvd., is safe from redevelopment, but his warehouse, according to the city, is squarely inside the redevelopment triangle several blocks east of Downtown. He has built a thriving business with national and international reputations. Mr. Surfas is the latest and arguably the most spectacular business/property owner to be vanquished in the city’s relentless drive to redevelop neighborhoods judged to be in the eminent domain path of an amorphous plan for a light rail station. City Hall began knocking on the door of Mr. Surfas three years ago — the statistically irreversible signal that he was finished in Culver City.
Behind the Scenes at Surfas
Just as he had the night before in Council Chambers, Mr. Surfas spoke with raw candor throughout the visit by the frontpageonline.com.
Q. Is it over for you in Culver City?
A: If they succeed in the taking — I am not finished with my battle in the taking, but the law favors their position. If the city succeeds, I am done with Culver City for two reasons. One is, my store cannot function without a warehouse within proximity, such as what we have currently. If that happened (taking my warehouse), I have no desire to stay in Culver City. I will just do what I am doing in some other community.
Q. Where would you go?
A. We have a couple of options we are thinking about. I would rather not discuss them. It is not our desire to leave Culver City. But I am not going to get treated this way and keep putting money into Culver City. I was the first one to step to the plate and put up the big bucks for that corner (at 8777 Washington Blvd.). I had nobody’s help, not the city’s or anybody else’s.
Q. Who started the company?
A. My father Gerald in 1937. As of 1993, the company became very different. He was from England. Originally this was strictly commercial, refrigeration service. Refrigeration was his specialty. But we don’t really do that anymore. It has evolved into what you see today, which is equipment, supplies, gourmet food. But commercial restaurateurs still are the base of our business.
Q. Where do your grit and your feistiness come from?
A. They are just my instincts. I don’t let people tread on me. I am a very nice guy. I go out of my way to be nice. But when I see an injustice, I stand up. I feel like this is an injustice. It is not just a monetary issue.
Q. Were you always going to be in this business?
A. I have always been in the business, but I have done other things as well. I have been an adjunct professor at universities, teaching business courses.
Q. Which do you like better, business theory or business execution?
A. I am always on the firing line. So I would say execution. I like to make things happen. I have an MBA. I learned a lot with that, and I exercise it. My son Steven, who is 25, is involved with the business. He graduated from Loyola, and he also has had other jobs — for the sake of experience — before he came to work here.
Q. What has been the trajectory of your business?
A. It really started evolving between 1993 and 1995. Prior to that, 90 percent of our business was selling heavy restaurant equipment such as big stoves, refrigerators, putting in complete installations. We did not have the pots and the pans. We did not have the gourmet food. The change was diversification because (the other way) didn’t work, given all the economic problems in California from ’89 to ’92. People quit building restaurants, which, basically, meant no business for us. We used to have five locations. We regrouped and consolidated into
one location. We added food for diversification. We do a lot of things. We sell the gourmet food to distributors. We are after the distributor and retail. We sell the small ‘ware, the pots, the pans, the knives. We sell equipment to the restaurateurs. We supply all of the restaurateurs. We also do commercial food service design. We design projects all over the country. We also have web sales, which have been growing. But I have had to keep a hold on them until I knew what was going on here with the city. I have not known for three years whether I am here or I am not here. The city has been talking about this for three years, and I still say they don’t have a definite plan. I was contacted today by somebody from the city. They asked what it is that I want. They want to make sure they understand. I said, if you are going to ask anything technical, talk to my attorney. If you want to know generally, I will explain again, even though I think I have made it simple and clear in the past. If you want me to remain, and you feel like eminent domain is the thing to do, take the building (at 8771 Washington Blvd.). The city would love for me to say, I’m going to stay anyway. But the point I think they don’t understand is the store is not big enough to do everything we do in this warehouse and supply it.
Q. What happened the first time City Hall knocked on your door?
A. The game was over because the rules are that eminent domain is almost impossible to fight. I am the first to admit that some things are for the good, like getting rid of the motel. No question there is merit to the idea of doing something, like all of those little buildings along Exposition. I would not be surprised, though, if the free marketplace wouldn’t have solved those issues. I believe in the free marketplace.
[Tomorrow: The conclusion.]
