Filmmaker Jack Henry Robbins visited small businesses in LA that are still open during the pandemic, but may not be able to stay afloat much longer. He talked with their owners about what this time has been like for them. He’s put their stories on the Instagram account “ The Spot We Love ” to encourage people to support LA small businesses.
“If you’re lucky enough right now to be able to spend money on takeout food or buy gifts for people on Christmas, what I hope is that we all collectively are smart about how we spend our money,” says Robbins. “You know, In-N-Out is going to be fine.”
Robbins says he started the account to investigate which businesses are struggling due to the pandemic, and he’s still on the hunt for more to feature.
“If you have any businesses that need to be interviewed, I’m also here for that,” he says.
“When I was younger I wanted to buy a car, so I started washing dishes in a restaurant. Then from there they were like, ‘We’re gonna teach you how to prep to make more money.’ So I got really good at it. I just kept doing it. Oh I can do this. I really can do this, make a decent living from being a chef or something. I started falling in love with it more and more and realized I had a creative knack at cooking. I wanted this place to be fun, a place where my brothers would come. My friends, the neighborhood people. We would open up early to watch soccer and eat biscuit sandwiches. Then covid happened and yeah.” — @alldaybabyla . Photo courtesy of Jack Henry Robbins/The Spot We Love.
Lien Ta of All Day Baby. Photo by Carlo Alberto Orecchia, courtesy of The Spot We Love.
James Fugate of Eso Won Books. Photo by Carlo Alberto Orecchia, courtesy of The Spot We Love.Luke Walker of Luke Walker's Barber and Beauty Care. Photo by Carlo Alberto Orecchia, courtesy of The Spot We Love.