Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister Stores at Simi Valley Town Center to Close in March

Last month Abercrombie and Fitch contacted the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to announce they will be shuttering their stores at the Simi Valley Town Center by the end of March. Never good news to hear of local stores closing, but this is part of a wider plan announced by Abercrombie this past Wednesday that it plans to close 180 of its 1,014 U.S. stores over the next 3 years (following the closure of 71 stores in 2011). This will eliminate 117 jobs in Simi Valley, though hopefully new jobs will come when they find new tenants for these spaces. A&F generated $4.2 billion in 2011, with net income of about $128 million.

There are California laws that require employers with 75 or more employees to give at least 60 days' notice to employees and local officials when they plan to terminate 50 or more employees in a mass layoff.

Other notifications submitted to the Board of Supervisors last month included Zodiac Pool Systems, which is closing its Moorpark facility (125 impacted local jobs) and EDO Communications and Countermeasure Systems, which is closing its plant on Willow Lane in Thousand Oaks, thus impacting 147 jobs.

Let's hope to see a reversal of this trend.  In the meantime CLICK HERE for links to over 200 employers in Ventura County and surrounding areas.

No Mann's Land - The Final Remaining Mann Theatre in Westlake Village to Close on Tuesday, December 27th

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The Mann Theatre at The Promenade at Westlake closed on December 27, 2011, as mentioned in this Dec 22 San Fernando Valley Business Journal article.

This was the last of the Mann theaters. Recently the Mann Theaters at the Janss Marketplace were sold to Regency Theaters and earlier this year the Mann Chinese Theater was sold and now is simply called Chinese Theatre.

The space will be taken over by Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas, which will open a high-end theater with plush seating and waiters. Nice! Sounds like a Muvico competitor! This VIP concept has been in place since 1999 in Mexico and they are quickly expanding into Southern California.

Cinépolis is the 4th largest movie theater chain in the world, which is news to me. Probably because most of their 230 theaters worldwide are in Mexico.

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Jungle Land Indoor Kids Playground in Agoura Closing Its Doors November 22nd

UPDATE: New owners have taken over and opened the facility as CA Kiddo club on December 5, 2011.

Today, Jungle Land, the 5,000 sq ft indoor play facility on Canwood Street in Agoura geared towards kids up to 6 years old, announced that it will be closing. Its last day will be November 22, 2011. Jungle Land has provided safe indoor play for little ones over the last 6 years.

Jungle Land joins Jolly Jumps Party Place in Camarillo that closed its doors on September 30, 2011 (though Jolly Jumps still provides rental bounce houses and other items for parties) and The Roller Dome indoor skating rink that closed its doors in October 2010.

It is never a happy time to hear about a local business closing, though there could be a number of reasons for a particular business doing so. And of course while some places close, others open, like My Party Playhouse in Agoura and Sky High Sports - The Trampoline Place in Camarillo.

For over 100 venues and ideas for birthday parties around Ventura County, CLICK HERE!

Wachovia at Janss Marketplace Closes and Combines With Local Wells Fargo in Thousand Oaks

The "Available" signs were the first clue that the old Wachovia Banking Center at the Janss Marketplace (adjacent to Toys R Us) has been closed. The sign on the door says the operations of this location will be combined into the Wells Fargo located at 140 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, across from The Tipsy Goat. This is not a complete surprise, given Well Fargo purchased Wachovia several years ago.

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From my vantage point, this would be an OUTSTANDING location for a kids indoor play area/birthday party venue, given its proximity to Toys R Us! But of course it would have to be popular enough to pay the rent.

Anchor Has Been Lowered at Anchor Blue

I remember shopping at Miller's Outpost as a kid. Miller's Outpost became Anchor Blue in the 1990s and I've never been into an Anchor Blue store. And perhaps that is why they filed bankruptcy for a 2nd time this month and are calling it quits. The first time they filed bankruptcy was in May 2009.

That means you now have another store to find some deep discounts. They currently are advertising 40-60% off. There are Anchor Blue stores at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura (805.639.0462) and Oxnard Esplanade (805.988.8003). Employees are not sure when the stores will officially close, but they are in process of selling off their remaining inventory.

More info at www.anchorblue.com.

Revolution Surf Company in Newbury Park Closed Its Doors in November

Camarillo Location on Daily DriveSurf's Down! Just realized there was something missing from the Conejo Gateway Plaza at 701 Wendy Drive near the intersection of Old Conejo Road in Newbury Park. Revolution Surf Company closed its doors last November and consolidated its inventory into its other location at 1775 Daily Drive in Camarillo. That's only about 7 miles away.

Simply Ceramics at the Janss Marketplace Thousand Oaks Recently Closed

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Simply Ceramics at the Janss Marketplace, we will miss you. I was just informed by CVG reader Patricia that Simply Ceramics recently closed. This was confirmed by the brief and to the point message on the Simply Ceramics website "Simply Ceramics has closed." And the phone line is no longer in service.

If you are looking for a paint your own pottery type of place, you'll find them in Camarillo, Simi Valley and Calabasas. CLICK HERE to learn more.

Borders Thousand Oaks Will Be Closing in January 2011

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Update 11/28/10: Today we stopped by Borders for their going out of business sale. Most everything was 30% to 40% off and there was quite a bit of merchandise in the store at this point. We got there at 11 a.m. and by the time we left around noon it was PACKED. So stop by ASAP if you're looking for a deal. An employee indicated the store will be open through the holidays/new year and there is no new location planned. 

As we left, we passed by the old, vacant Black Angus and Armstrong Nursery. Black Angus closed in April 2008, following the closing of Hungry Hunter in 2007 and Marie Callender's in 2008. Enough of that. Go get a bargain!

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Original Post Date 11/15/10: Just a reminder that the Borders Bookstore at 125 West Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks will be closing sometime next January. This VC Star article from July confirms this with a Borders representative.

To me this comes as no surprise ad this 40,630 sq ft store is over 15,000 sq ft larger than the typical sized Borders and the company has experienced net losses for 5 years straight. Borders' stock price (BGP) hovers near an all-time low at just over $1 per share these days.

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There's still hope for Borders with recent changes in management but among the ailing economy, a trend towards online sales and plenty of competition (Amazon.com's market valuation is roughly 900 TIMES Borders'...ouch!). While I would hope that Borders opens up another, smaller location somewhere else in town, I won't hold my breath.

On July 13, 2010, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to relocate three county medical services* an co-locate them into the Borders space. They approved a 15 year lease, starting with 9 months of "free" rent (while $6.5 million of tenant improvements are put in place) and subsequently $1.95/sq ft.

*The county medical services to be relocated to the Borders building will include:

Conejo Valley Family Medical Group (Ambulatory Care), currently located at 223 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

Conejo Valley Clinic (Behavioral Health), currently located at 72 Moody Court.

Public Health, Women, Infants and Children program currently located at 80 E. Hillcrest Drive.

Loehmann's in Newbury Park is Closing! :<

As I was stopping PetSmart in Newbury Park to pick up goldfish food for my 5 year old's recent addition to his pet collection on Saturday, October 30th, I noticed a lot of "40% to 80%" signs along the road. Much to my wife's chagrin, we discovered that the Newbury Park Loehmann's is closing its doors. In fat, they are even selling store furniture and fixtures...pretty much everything except the walls. My wife asked me scope it out for her and there's stuff in there, but a fraction of what used to be. The pickins appear to be getting slim. Last day the store will be open is Sunday, November 7th.

There ain't any other Loehmann's close by here in Ventura County. The next closest stores are in Reseda, Burbank and Beverly Hills.