Business & Tech

Caruso Responds to Encino Marketplace Shift

Despite local protests to store closures, the shopping mall developer says he still wants the center to be a community resource.

Developer Rick Caruso, whose Encino Marketplace mall was among his first retail projects, said Friday that he shared the community's "huge disappointment" at the departure of the Barnes & Noble store from the site.

"It pains me that Barnes is gone, but it was out of my control,” Caruso told Encino Patch following a Valley-wide United Chambers of Commerce event at the Warner Center Marriott, where he was the keynote speaker.

The much beloved Barnes & Noble store shut its doors on Dec. 31 after a tumultuous three months of community protest. The store, which had been there for 16 years, decided to pull out after it was unable to come to an agreement on rent with Caruso Affiliated.

“The Encino Marketplace is like a child to me, and we want it to be a community resource," Caruso told Encino Patch. "We also have to make decisions that are good business decisions, too. So, you know, it’s a balance."

The Encino Marketplace, at Hayvenhurst Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, has seen a shift in fortunes recently. In addition to the Barnes & Noble closure, another store, Hallmark Creations, is preparing to shut its doors on June 28 because it couldn't come to a lease agreement with Caruso Affiliated.

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CVS Caremark will be moving into the Barnes & Noble space, and Caruso said that a new tenant has not yet been chosen for the remaining 4,000 square feet of space along Hayvenhurst Avenue. 

Fresh Brothers Pizza, a small restaurant chain that serves pizza, salad and wings, will be taking over the Hallmark space this summer, said Caruso.

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