Korean Businessman Asked Neighbors To Loot L.A. Riot-Area Store, Not Burn It

LOS ANGELES - Seven months ago Steve Lim stood in the New Star Market in blazing south Los Angeles and encouraged his customers to loot the store.

"Take what you need, take what you need," he remembers telling them. "Just don't burn it. Please don't burn it down."

They didn't.

While six Korean-owned markets within a 1-mile radius were put to the torch, the New Star Market survived.

The New Star Market is a common form of business in the city's poorest areas: A Korean-owned shop that brings commerce to the community but offers no local ownership or employment.

While the neighbors value the convenience, many seethe over the idea that the store is run by outsiders. The Lims sit in at local meetings, and Helen Lim keeps home telephone numbers of the neighborhood children. But no local residents work there.

The store is a half-mile from the flashpoint of the Los Angeles riots in April. There, Tom's Liquors, also Korean-owned, was razed within minutes of the first sparks of rage. Why didn't the New Star burn too?

"My husband calls me `motor mouth' because I know everyone's business," Helen Lim said.

As with Tom's, the New Star Market does much of its trade in liquor. Customers spill in and out, many using food stamps to buy 30-ounce cans of Magnum malt liquor ($1.49) and 24-ounce bottles of Thunderbird ($1.19). The Lims keep their prices on staples artificially low and take profits from the alcohol. "Our milk and eggs are cheaper than the big stores," Helen Lim said. "That keeps people from getting angry with us."