It’s routine for businesses to offer discounts to police officers, firefighters and soldiers, but school teachers rarely receive the same treatment. Santa Clarita’s Tyler Anderson, founder of I Love Teachers, wants to change that. I Love Teachers partners with businesses to offer exclusive savings to educators. School staffers sign up with the program for a membership fee of $6 a month and receive access to dozens of discounts. From the subscription fee, $2 goes to a teacher assistance program to help teachers in need, $2 goes to a scholarship fund for graduating high school students interested in an education career and $2 covers the operation of I Love Teachers. “A lot of businesses do have some type of gated offer, like a senior citizens discount or military discount. But nobody has really had a gated offer for teachers,” said Anderson, owner of No Bugs Organic Pest Control in Santa Clarita. Anderson said the concept was conceived last summer when, after hearing about hardships endured by underpaid and overworked teachers, he began advertising free pest control services for school district staff who were out of work until school resumed in the fall. Word of mouth spread, and support for Anderson’s business grew as a result. “It hit an emotional hot button,” he said. “It’s not just teachers, it’s the whole community coming in to support it too.” Soon after, a Pita Pit franchise in Santa Clarita signed up to provide free sandwiches. Then a friend’s tire store offered teachers free oil changes and tire rotations. “When you see teachers smile in appreciation, what that does for businessowners and employees is priceless,” Anderson said. In February, I Love Teachers launched nationwide. It operates in every ZIP code in the U.S. Anderson says there are 1.4 million discounts available through the program. Among them are $9 movie tickets at Regal Entertainment Group theaters; 50 percent off appetizers at Saddle Ranch restaurants; and 15 percent off all services from Firestone Complete Auto Care. “Businesses are going out of their way to offer really great things,” Anderson said. The I Love Teachers website also includes a new “Teacher’s Lounge” section where the public can post ads for tutors, advisors or odd jobs during the summer. The program’s next step is OurGrade.com., a sister website where teachers can grade the customer service they receive at a business using a “report card” tailored for specific business types. Anderson hopes to launch it by June and sees it as a better-vetted, more quantifiable competitor to Yelp. Aldi Expands German discount grocer Aldi opened a new supermarket on Roscoe Boulevard in Panorama City this month as part of an expansion campaign throughout Southern California. Since opening April 11, the market has drawn customers with its vegan and gluten-free products and organic produce. A novelty hit has been the shopping cart system, which requires patrons insert a quarter into a cart’s handle to unlock it. The quarter is returned when the cart is put back in the collection area. The Panorama store is the first of 15 Aldi openings planned for 2019 in Southern California. It is Aldi’s 64th supermarket in California, a number that will swell to 78 by 2020. With this growth, Aldi plans to hire 450 new employees in the region. Aldi’s expansion in Southern California is a microcosm of its expansion nationwide — the company plans to spend $3.4 billion to open more than 700 U.S. stores and hire 25,000 employees in markets, warehouses and offices by 2022. Aldi has existing supermarkets in Santa Clarita, Lancaster and Simi Valley. Locations of the futures stores are undisclosed. Pizza Cookery Relocates The Original Pizza Cookery in Woodland Hills is closing its doors at the end of May after a 45-year run. Founded in 1975, it is one of the longest-standing eateries in the West Valley, but the restaurant’s landlord declined to renew the lease, management explained in a Facebook post. Pizzeria patrons need not fret — the business is reopening in Thousand Oaks at 75 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., next to the Best Western Plus Inn. It will occupy the property left vacant after the closure of Camboni Restaurant last October. Pizza Cookery is targeting June 1 as an opening date. Thousand Oaks also offered more affordable rent rates than Woodland Hills. The restaurant plans to design the new location to look like the original, complete with concrete floors and wood booths and tables, Ventura County Star reported. The Thousand Oaks location will feature a full bar with happy-hour specials, music and an expanded menu, including breakfast and vegan and gluten-free options. Staff Reporter Andrew Foerch can be reached at [email protected] or at (818) 316-3130.
