SAM TARLOV: So as you probably know, the Super Bowl is going to take place in Inglewood this Sunday at the newly built SoFi stadium, and since the stadium’s approval in 2016, there have been many concerns about how it has impacted gentrification in Inglewood. Rents and home sale prices have gone up dramatically in the past few years, and many residents have been displaced. So I just wanted to ask, has your business or any surrounding small businesses felt the economic impact of the stadium being built?
HUSSEIN MOHAMUD: The city of Inglewood has not done very well in supporting local business. Actually, they have done a lot worse than that because, as you know, this is a working neighborhood. People who live around this area, people who run local businesses and people who work at the airport. Most of them have lived around the city of Inglewood. Inglewood has somehow, given a boost to the owners to raise their rent up by approximately 70 percent.
TARLOV: How has the displacement of longtime residents specifically affected your business?
MOHAMUD: I used to open my business from 6 a.m. till 9 to 10 p.m.. Now we can’t do that because there’s no employee who lives around this area who’s going to come early to open the business. I have to open the business at 10 a.m. and close at 8 p.m., so I have to cut all these hours. So, you know, we had to shrink the hours we work and we also had to shrink the menu. We started with like 10 to 12 items, now we only have six items, period.
TARLOV: Do you think that high profile events such as the Super Bowl and other events that are going to be taking place at SoFi in the future will place a focus on Inglewood that could possibly bring about positive change in the community?
MOHAMUD: No, it might be good for big businesses that are going to come in, but for small family owned businesses like us, we will be chased out. Clearly, we’re not going to be here anymore. If this city is going to become as big as they are predicting and they continue to take out small businesses and impose restrictions on them... No, it’s not going to be good for anyone.