Another landmark Newhall business becomes a casualty.

Newhall Hardware has announced that it will be closing its doors forever as soon as the current inventory is liquidated.

Newhall Hardware first opened its doors in 1947, and was purchased in 1998 by current owner Victor Feany. Newhall Hardware always prided itself on its "if we don’t have it, you don’t need it" attitude, with lots of hard-to-find items in stock.

Ironically, Newhall Hardware just celebrated its 60th anniversary with a big block party this last August. Apparently one of the biggest factors forcing the store closing was the lack of parking in the area, which probably wasn’t helped much by the City’s failed back-in parking plan that affected the store for several months.

Newhall Hardware will have a liquidation sale starting January 29 to sell off all remaining inventory. Many items are also being offered both on eBay and on Gun Broker Auctions.

This is the second significant store closing in the Downtown Newhall area in less than a month, with The Antique Flower Garden closing in late December. It’s very sad to see these Newhall landmarks closing their doors and becoming just an entry in the area’s history books.

Meanwhile, a small retail property nearby at 24363 San Fernando Road is listed for sale at $515,000 (with a $70,000 price reduction!). The previous tenant of this location was Discoteca El Sol.

What does this mean for Downtown Newhall and the Old Town Newhall Redevelopment Project? Nothing positive, that’s for sure! With existing businesses either shutting their doors voluntarily or being forced out by the City of Santa Clarita, it seems that Downtown Newhall is rapidly becoming Ghost Town Newhall.

Business owners along Spruce Street in Downtown Newhall report that they’re still in limbo over being evicted via the eminent domain process for the supposed Library Project that is slated to take their place. While I can’t offer anything specific on this blog at the moment as to what’s going on there, I can say that many of the property and business owners there feel that they’re being treated like the Coots in Bridgepoop.

In other Downtown Newhall news this week, the City of Santa Clarita voted to ante up $25k to change the San Fernando Road street name to Newhall Avenue from the 14 Freeway to 5th street so people would know that they’re passing Newhall on the freeway instead of San Fernando, thereby notifying the world that there’s shopping to be had if they jump off the freeway. Not sure where they’re trying to entice people to shop at, but at least it will no longer be a secret that you can access the Newhall area via the 14 Freeway.

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