LOS ANGELES — Two months after twin fires destroyed large swaths of two Southern California communities, many of the businesses left behind are struggling to revive sales in the face of displaced customers, road closures and a massive rebuilding effort that is projected to drag on for years.

The secondary crisis has hit hard in Malibu because of the ongoing closure of Pacific Coast Highway to most vehicle traffic — isolating the beachside community from customers coming from the Westside.

Some businesses have closed and others say they are struggling to stay open. Sales for some restaurants and shops have plummeted to less than half what they were before the Palisades fire roared through the east end of the city in early January.

Leaders in the city government and business community have urged the state transportation agency, Caltrans, to expand access to PCH as soon as possible. But with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers only about to begin clearing hundreds of destroyed homes along the highway, the crucial coastal route seems likely to remain as a choke point for months and possibly years.

In the meantime, Malibu's government and business leaders are reminding outsiders that most of the town did not burn and that restaurants and shops are waiting for customers to return.

"The main thing we want people to know is, Malibu is open for business," said Mayor Doug Stewart. "Yes, it's hard to come in from the east (Santa Monica side) but there are lots of other ways to get here. Malibu is not destroyed. Our retail and restaurants are open for everyone."

Wildfires and floods have beset the city of about 10,000 with striking regularity. But in recent years the onslaught has been particularly challenging. First came the 2018 Woolsey fire, which destroyed 465 homes, with fewer than 40% rebuilt by this year.

Landslides closed PCH last year. The Franklin fire gutted 20 structures in central Malibu, also shutting down power for days. Then came January's Palisades fire, which burned the vast majority of homes along the ocean from Topanga Canyon to Las Flores Canyon, just a part of the 798 total structures lost in Malibu, according to the Army Corps.

"If the businesses here were a boxer, at that point they might have called it a TKO (technical knockout)," Stewart said. "This has hit them really hard and they are struggling."

Mitch Taylor, longtime manager of the Becker surf shop in central Malibu, agreed: "It's a guarantee here in Malibu that something nasty happens every five to 10 years. But this isn't just nasty, it's devastating."

Epitomizing the challenges for local business is John's Garden, a beloved sandwich, salad and soup shop in the Malibu Country Mart. Although it survived the fire, the restaurant has seen its receipts drop by more than half, with many of its non-local customers unable to pass PCH checkpoints.

Even workers who have passes to get through the checkpoints find the drive painfully slow, with the highway reduced to one lane in each direction and the speed limit cut to 25 mph as work vehicles jam the roadway.

Many workers are forced to take the longer route, from the 101 Freeway to Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon Road. The change has lengthened the one-way commute for some from perhaps 40 minutes to two hours, sometimes more.

When they arrive at work in the Country Mart, its to a quaint shopping center hushed by the absence of visitors. On a bright, windy day Thursday, a patio that can be jammed with diners sat mostly empty.

Boyan Kinov, a Bulgarian immigrant who bought John's Garden a dozen years ago, said he is straining to stay afloat. Already, a neighboring boutique and a gym have closed. Other high-end retailers are open shorter hours. He worries that, if other businesses fail, it could further reduce foot traffic at the Cross Creek Road shopping center.

Kinov said his insurer is balking at paying on a portion of his policy for receipts lost to business interruption, saying it is only responsible for the days the business actually shut its doors, not deficits linked to the restricted highway access.

"We're one of the oldest businesses in Malibu. We celebrate our 50-year anniversary in July," Kinov said. "We're like a staple, an institution. And we have zero support from any kind of agencies or the government.

"I feel like defeat, you know? It's unsustainable the way it is. It's very sad, and even unbelievable, to have to consider closing the doors."

Others local mainstays, like Duke's Malibu, Tramonto Bistro and Caffe Luxxe on PCH near Carbon Beach, have not yet reopened. Those businesses are even harder to reach, hemmed in by checkpoints on both the east and west.

Like other businesses in Malibu, John's Garden reminds customers from outside that they can still reach the city. The highway up the coast from the Country Mart remains open and traffic can also come over Kanan Dume Road and Malibu Canyon from the Valley.

But the bulk of visitors have always come from "town" — Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and points beyond — making greater access to PCH critical.

At Paradise Cove Beach Cafe, where business is down more than 60%, owner Bob Morris called on political leaders up to the governor to focus on a quicker expansion of access to the highway, also known as State Route 1.

Morris said leaders should consider offering the kind of incentive given to the freeway contractor who rebuilt the Santa Monica Freeway after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. That builder earned a $14.5-million bonus for restoring a collapsed section of the freeway 74 days ahead of schedule.

Glen Gerson, owner of Calamigos Beach Club restaurant on PCH, suggested Caltrans use reversible dividers on the highway to provide two lanes of traffic in the predominant commuting direction, and one lane in the other direction.

"Nobody needs to get hurt. We have to do it safely," Morris said. "But we've got to get this highway open, and in the government somebody's got to push to make it happen."

The highway through most of Malibu consists of a total of five lanes — two for traffic in each direction and a center lane for left turns. There is also a lane on each side for parking along most of both sides of PCH.

Now orange traffic cones limit vehicles to one lane in each direction. And the highway will soon be crowded with trucks hauling debris to be removed by the Army Corps of Engineers and private contractors.

In the whole Palisades fire burn zone, it's estimated it will take 90,000 truckloads to finish the job. The Corps has said the work will be complete in the Palisades and Altadena burn areas "within a year," without giving more precise estimates for PCH and other sections of the work.

Caltrans spokesperson Nathan Bass said the agency is moving "toward opening as soon as we possibly can," adding that recovery workers remain busy in the area and that they must "work through" their tasks, including removal of hazards, before opening PCH for people other than first responders, health care workers, residents, contractors and essential employees.

Locals and visitors who mostly now come from up the coast or from the San Fernando Valley are trying to fill in for the missing customers.

The city of Malibu is buying lunch at various local restaurants, every day, for roughly 100 city employees, Stewart said. On March 15, Morris plans to host a "Day of Hope" at the Paradise Cove restaurant, with free meals for first responders and those affected by the fire.

Service resumed recently on the Metro bus line traveling from Santa Monica to Trancas Canyon Road, near the far western end of the city. Some locals have wondered whether a ferry service could be launched, to deliver day trippers from Santa Monica Pier to Malibu Pier — an alternative that the city tried during a major landslide decades ago.

Kinov and other Malibu businesspeople said their spirits have been lifted by customers who made a special effort to buy extra meals or gifts.

Lisa Barron, who lost her home above La Costa Beach, said she came to John's Garden for a sandwich to help bolster a place she has come to love.

"We don't want what's still surviving to die before the rest of us can rebuild and get back," said Barron, a former business professor at the University of California, Irvine. "With these businesses and the people who are still living here, we've got to keep them alive and healthy and safe so the community doesn't go downhill."

With the same thought in mind, Vanessa Abbott, a film editor who lives in Calabasas, popped over the hill Thursday for lunch. "Everything is still here, and I want to do my part to support it," Abbott said, "one sandwich at a time."

Lynn Schulz, general manager of Marmalade Cafe in the Country Mart, said the feeling of support operates in both directions.

"We feel our role in the community, even during this tragedy, is to be here, to be open, to be cranking out meals, or to do catering, whatever anyone needs," Schulz said. "We're doing everything we can to be here and be part of the community."

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.