Local Buzz covers new businesses, restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Local Buzz covers new restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
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Office Depot at Moorpark Road and Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks is closing its doors and has commenced a store closing sale. Sadly, this is of no big surprise, as Office Depot has closed hundreds of locations over the last five years as consumers migrate towards online shopping.
In its place will be a Grocery Outlet store. Date TBA.
Burlington at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks will be permanently closing its doors July 23rd.
Burlington Coat Factory (now just Burlington) opened at this 85,000 sq ft location in September 2010.
No word from Janss Marketplace about what’s next for this location. But I can tell you that MB2 Raceway has stated on its website since February that it will be relocating to Janss Marketplace. We shall see!
Former home of The Open Book Store at The Oaks shopping mall.
The Open Book Store on the 2nd floor of The Oaks mall closed its doors on March 1st, but they indicate they will be relocating elsewhere, possibly in the mall, or possibly elsewhere (one CVG Facebook commenter said he heard they will be reopening near Trader Joe’s on Moorpark Road).
This store opened its doors on August 29, 2014 with an eclectic mix of deeply discounted books, including vintage and out of print books. A unique store in this day and age that has been loved by many.
Its sister store, the $5 or Less Bookstore at 2880 Cochran St, Simi Valley, is still open. www.fivedollarbookstore.com
The Las Posas Emporium gift and card shop at the Las Posas Plaza, 528 Las Posas Road in Camarillo has closed its doors after operating for 50 years.
Camille S. tipped us off that the Tuesday Morning store in the Conejo Valley Plaza, 1350 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks, is closing its doors. There’s currently a store closing sale in process.
Tuesday Morning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 27th as a result of the financial strain placed on its business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it will continue to operate as it moves through the bankruptcy process, certain underperforming stores will be closed. They plan to emerge from bankruptcy in early fall 2020.
The Camarillo, Ventura, Granada Hills and Woodland Hills stores currently are NOT slated for closing. The Pasadena and Culver City are on the store closure list.
The original Camarillo Lassen's Natural Foods on Pickwick Ave in Camarillo closed its doors in late February. Oda and Hilmar Lassen were Danish immigrants, coming to America in 1951, bringing four children, two suitcases a trunk and $50. They had three more children in America, and became citizens in 1960. They moved from San Fernando to Camarillo in 1964. This first store opened in 1971 and the rest is history. There are now 11 Lassens locations. www.lassens.com
No more Dudes at Janss Marketplace. The Dudes' Brewing Co. Tasting Room that originally opened in July 2016 has closed its kegs and its doors. I enjoyed The Dudes’ from time to time. Sorry to see them leave.
According to The Dudes’ Brewing Company Management Team:
After another year of remarkable growth, the national award-winning THE DUDES’® BREWING COMPANY has announced the expansion of two groundbreaking 13,000+ square foot “Beervana” super locations in Hollywood and Anaheim!
In an effort to best streamline the company’s efforts moving forward, The Dudes’® will be closing two of their existing locations in Huntington Beach and Thousand Oaks effective immediately.
“We greatly enjoyed our last three years in both Huntington Beach and Thousand Oaks and are so very proud of what we’ve done and of our incredible and loyal fans and staff,” said The Dudes’® owner Toby Humes. “At this time however, we felt it important to refocus the direction of the company and move from the suburban environments to more urban environments.”
The existing The Dudes’® Brewing Company locations in Santa Monica, Santa Clarita and Torrance will remain in operation. Resources from the closing locations will be reallocated to the new restaurants while both locations are currently searching externally to fill the many needed positions in both Hollywood as well as Anaheim.
Interested parties are encouraged to view the latest openings listed on The Dudes’® website: https://thedudesbrew.com/work-for-us
“We are still very much continuing to grow as a company. Concentrating our focus and energies to our bigger restaurant locations is the next step in our growth,” said VP of Marketing Sean Fanton. “ Our amazing new 13,000 square foot Hollywood location is weeks away from opening with Anaheim scheduled to launch Quarter 2 of this year.”
The new Hollywood location is conveniently located amidst the perennially foot-trafficked Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard at Cherokee Ave and will feature the only brewery tap room in Hollywood. Equipped with 90 taps of cold, freshly-brewed beer, the restaurant is scheduled to officially open in mid-March with Anaheim’s unveiling in the second quarter of 2020.
“People from all over the world flock to Hollywood,” Fanton continued. “In terms of convenience and foot traffic, our newest location on Hollywood Boulevard is second to none.”
Featuring a rustic industrial decor, a state of the art scratch kitchen and three bars - each with 30 flowing taps - the Hollywood location will serve as a destination for beer lovers everywhere as it will feature the only outdoor deck on Hollywood Boulevard. The new location will also offer a professionally curated wine selection.
The Hollywood and Anaheim locations will mark the newest restaurants for the family-owned and operated The Dudes’® Brewing Company. Other locations include Santa Monica, Santa Clarita and their flagship location in Torrance. In 2019, The Dudes won two category awards at the Great American Beer Festival®, taking home medals for their Los Dudes Cerveza Lager Mexicana and Grandma’s Pecan Brown. The newest location will feature the award winners as well as other customer favorites like their CalifornIPA®, JuiceBox Series®: Peach Sour and Double Trunk® DIPA.
The aforementioned award-winners can be found on tap at all The Dudes’® Brewing locations and also available for take-home enjoyment in canned four-packs. If you are in California, Reno or Las Vegas you can get these beers delivered straight to your doorstep via our online store. Check out www.thedudesbrew.com for additional details on ordering as well as information on applying for positions in either Hollywood or Anaheim.
Meanwhile, expect Pedals & Pints Brewing Company at The Oaks Mall to be opening real soon. The recently started their on-site brewing processes.
I drove by Quik & Ezy at 2071 Ventura Boulevard in Camarillo a million times, but never stopped by. I loved the name. Quite an efficient use of space. No need for the c in Quick and no need for the a in Easy.
Quik & Ezy was a drive through market, which brought me back to my childhood.. I remember my parents stopping by either an Alta Dena or a Jerseymaid drive through to pick up milk and eggs and the like on the way home. Quite the convenience.
Given the popularity of Starbucks drive-thrus and fast food drive-thrus, you would think there would still be a demand for drive-through markets. But I don’t see them anymore.
What originally resided at this Quik & Ezy? That I don’t know, but if I had to guess, perhaps it was a Foster’s Freeze. That’s what it looks like to me.
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
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