Serial Entrepreneur's Latest Venture: Arnie’s Cafe

Arnie’s Cafe, near the busy corner of Sepulveda and Burbank boulevards and smack up against a gas station, seems an unlikely spot for a coffee shop.

But owner Arnie Abramyan, who opened in March and on Thursday held an official grand opening with Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce members, says business is good.

"It’s a lot better than we expected," Abramyan said.

The condominiums on Burbank bring in locals, and there are two hotels within walking distance of Arnie's. Drop-ins come to check out the new cafe, he said.

“Everybody wants a good coffee or mocha, and there’s no nearby coffee shop on Sepulveda or Burbank,” he added.

It also helps that Abramyan, at age 30, is a serial entrepreneur.

He previously ran a cellphone shop and a car dealership in Tujunga. He built a Web design business, Advibe, which he still runs. He prints business cards, brochures and large vertical advertising banners. He’s collected nearly 2,000 domain names and offers them for sale with Web design for other businesses.

Arnie’s in Sherman Oaks belongs to a growing string of same-named cafes: There’s Little Arnie’s, a coffee shop in a nearby high-rise office building on Sepulveda, and a soon-to-open Arnie’s coffee shop in Woodland Hills.

Abramyan says his business sense began to develop early, at age 12 or 13, when he helped his father, a mechanic who owned Beverly Hills Auto Craft in Beverly Hills.

“That’s where I picked up my business skills and learned about day-to-day operations,” he said. “I wanted to stick my nose into anything and everything and find out how things happened.”

After a few semesters at Pasadena City College, he taught himself HTML programming and various software programs to start his Web design business, the first in a series of businesses, including the first Arnie’s in Tujunga.

The second, and current, Arnie’s came into existence when Abramyan spotted a three-bedroom house on Burbank Boulevard. The owner ran a car repair service behind the house on the same lot and used the house for storage. Abramyan persuaded the owner to let him lease the house and then spent 14 months redesigning the interior himself, adding windows, counter space, recessed lighting and a wood-paneled interior. He also upgraded the electrical and plumbing systems and installed a working kitchen.

Abramyan used his design skills to create and print the menus, and his online and social media skills to market the restaurant.

He roasts his own coffee for the espresso and Arnie’s House Blend. He offers pastries, salads, hummus, wraps and other items. There is entertainment too: His “Songwriters Showcase,” which ran Thursday nights until crowds grew too large, has been replaced by Friday night stand-up comedy.

What’s next for the ever-active entrepreneur? Reconfiguring the first Arnie’s in Tujunga into yet another business.

“We’re in negotiations,” Abramyan said, smiling.

Arnie’s Cafe, 15245 Burbank Blvd., Sherman Oaks.