Stores

A city inspector dropped by the Bulldog Cafe Collective on Melrose Avenue last week to see if it was still in business. It was. Inside the spare, modern interior, dusky green marijuana buds were still displayed in plastic jars. An owner who is often at the store tweezed whimsically named strains into small vials for customers.

For years, retailers could afford to be sloppy about running their businesses because customers kept buying. No more. Stung by the worry that shoppers -- who cut spending by the most dramatic amount in at least 39 years this holiday season -- may not start spending again for a long time, stores are making drastic changes.

The same day the Los Angeles City Council took its first votes to shut down rogue medical marijuana dispensaries, the chamber roiled with city workers who denounced plans to balance the budget with furloughs and layoffs. When medical marijuana advocates had their chance to talk, they seized on the coincidence and startled the council with their message. Don't ban us, they said, tax us. Last week, Councilwoman Janice Hahn proposed to do just that.

Microsoft Corp. is looking for an answer to Apple Inc.'s genius. The Redmond, Wash., software giant plans to open a series of retail stores to show off its goods. It's taking a page from the playbook of its scrappy computer-industry rival, which has boosted sales by opening Apple stores across the globe and stocking its Genius Bar with tech experts. Details about Microsoft's plans for the stores were still scarce Friday.

Links found by researchers between snack foods and obesity in poor communities are prompting new calls for more regulation of convenience stores in South Los Angeles. The proposed new regulations under discussion are an outgrowth and expansion of last year's city restrictions on new fast-food restaurants in a 32-square-mile area of South Los Angeles. The area is home to about 500,000 residents, including those who live in West Adams, Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park. Motivated by new data focusing on convenience stores, civic activists and a City Council member favor limiting the development of new convenience stores.

As they stocked up one last time on nuts, bolts and nails, some were worrying Monday that Larchmont Village was being hammered. The quaint shopping district's 82-year-old hardware store was closing Monday, the latest victim of what many fear is an assault on mom-and-pop businesses by developers who are buying up the storefront shops and boutiques.

The Santa Monica City Council delayed action late Tuesday on the drafting of an ordinance that would ban "single-use" plastic carry-out bags at all stores and restaurants within the city and would require retailers to charge a fee for paper bags. The measure, supported by Heal the Bay, an influential environmental organization based in Santa Monica, is aimed at accelerating a shift away from highly polluting plastic bags in favor of reusable canvas and other bags.

The blue box is shrinking. Tiffany & Co. will test a new concept in Glendale this fall with its first smaller-scale store, the high-end jeweler said Thursday. The 2,600-square-foot space -- Tiffany's 46 existing stores average 7,100 square feet -- will open in October in the Americana at Brand, a retail and residential center under construction across from the Glendale Galleria shopping mall. If the smaller-store concept succeeds, it could give Tiffany an opportunity to expand its U.S.

If you love things French but have overdosed on the lavenders and yellows of Provence, a new store in South Pasadena offers the crisper, brighter, more linear designs of the country's Basque region. Jean-Vier, which has 15 shops throughout France, has opened its first U.S. store, where you can find tablecloths with the seven brilliantly colored stripes that represent the seven Basque provinces. Jean-Vier also sells sheets of oilcloth-like coated linen in bold and summery designs.

SHARON LYNN BEAR can't be dissuaded by the price of gas, the time it takes to unearth the perfect piece or the disappointment of ending a shopping excursion empty-handed. Whether the Irvine resident is browsing for a 19th century vase or a vintage Italian footed bowl, her venue of choice isn't EBay or Craigslist but the old-fashioned storefront overflowing with antiques.