Saturdays are usually busy days for Alma’s Place, a soul food restaurant in Compton, across from the city courthouse.

But about an hour after opening on June 22, Corina Pleasant, who runs the business with her mother, Alma, noticed that no customers were coming in. Their parking lot, which is shared with other small businesses in a strip mall, was overrun with cars and chaos as hundreds of people streamed to the courthouse to catch a glimpse of rapper Kendrick Lamar, who was there to film the music video for “Not Like Us.”

Alma’s Place and other nearby businesses say they lost thousands of dollars that day. The business owners blame city officials for failing to provide notice of the videotaping, which eventually forced them to shut down. Now they are asking Lamar, production company pgLang or the city to compensate them for their losses.

Daryl Hurlic places a morning order at Alma’s Place in Compton on July 11.

(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)

“It was really discouraging having electricity and gas,” Pleasant said. “I’m just running everything and not making any money. I was literally there for nothing because the little money I was making I had to use to pay my employees.”

If she had been informed beforehand, Pleasant said she could have closed the business for the day or set up a temporary tent with a special menu.

She estimates she lost between $1,800 and $2,200 that day. Other area business owners told similar stories in testimony before the city council and interviews with The Times.

A spokesperson for the city of Compton said in a statement that the city would identify “opportunities for more efficient communication regarding film permits to our community in the future.”

“Compton businesses, especially small businesses, are the backbone of our city,” the statement said. “We want to continue to maintain an open line of communication and do everything we can to support economic growth.”

Representatives for Lamar and pgLang did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Rumors of Lamar’s video recording were circulating online since at least June 17, ramping up anticipation for the rapper’s hometown appearance following his much-publicized feud with Drake.

Compton officials on June 21 issued film permits for several locations in downtown: the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial at the courthouse, Compton Courtyard and parking garage, Tam’s Burgers on Rosecrans Avenue, Compton College, Central Avenue, Willowbrook Avenue and Compton Boulevard.

The next day, more than 700 people showed up at the courthouse to appear in the video. The nearby parking lots were filled to capacity, with some people even parking their vehicles on the grass.

Lamar began filming at Tam’s Burgers and other locations earlier in the afternoon before heading to the courthouse around 3 p.m., where a large crowd was waiting to greet him.

Pleasant had closed her restaurant hours earlier. Spectators had flooded the mall parking lot, turning it into a one-way street, blocking access to fire lanes and dumpsters and trapping vehicles already parked there, she said. Customers, many of whom drive from Riverside and Orange County to eat at Alma’s Place on weekends, turned around and left.

“One day matters,” Pleasant said. “It matters when you’re there and you’re wasting your time. It matters when your Edison bill is $1,000. It matters when two weeks’ pay for three people is almost $3,000. It matters when gasoline is $800. You’re there, all these things are running and you have nothing to show for it.”

Adelfo Antonio Garcia, co-owner of Sunny Express Gourmet Fast Food, said he also lost about $2,000 that day. And customers still believe he’s closed on Saturdays.

Garcia called the situation frustrating because his restaurant was already struggling to make ends meet. The lack of communication from the city was unacceptable, he said.

“The people who are suffering are the small businesses,” he said in Spanish.

Alma Pleasant attended a City Council meeting the following Tuesday to express her disappointment with city officials, who she said needed to “get their act together.”

“I’m here because three things touched me on Saturday,” she said during a public statement. “And when those three things touch me, I come with full force. One, my children. Two, my money. Three, my food.”

According to Kathryn Arnold, a producer and entertainment consultant who is not affiliated with Lamar, production companies are not required to pay affected businesses. However, filmmakers sometimes compensate companies as a gesture of goodwill.

“Everybody performs better when there’s clear communication,” Arnold said. “Nobody wants to be surprised by something like that.”