A look a the larger retail stores considered for the Old Town Newhall Redevelopment Area.

This is Part IV of a multi-part series looking at the December 2006 study (the Retail Opportunities Analysis or ROA) on the Old Town Newhall Revitalization Project. In Part I, we looked at an overview of the Retail Opportunities Analysis, which is the study that’s supposed to prove the financial viability of the whole Revitalization Project. In Part II, we looked at local businesses targeted for removal. In Part III, we looked at creating a boutique environment in the Downtown Newhall area as well as attracting customers to that area. In this installment, we’ll look at attracting retailers to the Downtown Newhall area.

The Retail Opportunities Analysis (ROA) looked at a wide variety of retailers who tend to be located in either regional or boutique shopping centers as potentials for the Old Town Newhall Redevelopment Project. These were categorized as Big Box, Medium Box, Local-Serving Anchors and Lifestyle Tenants (high-end or boutique stores).

These stores were analyzed as to their requirements such as store spacing and shopping center size and population requirements as well as their presence in the region already (many are already local to the Santa Clarita area). Regional shopping centers considered in the ROA for this purpose were the Valencia Town Center Mall, Northridge Fashion Center, Simi Valley Town Center Mall, Topanga Plaza and the nearby Promenade Mall, Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks and the Glendale Galleria.

Attracting Big-Box Retailers (or Not!)

The Retail Opportunities Analysis (ROA) looked at attracting big-box retailers to the area to serve as anchor stores, and they came up with almost a big fat zero of potential candidates after reviewing the nearest competition and the retailers’ minimum requirements.

Of the extensive list of "big box" potentials, only one is considered to be a "possible", and that’s a movie theatre. Even the ROA hints that the movie theatre is a long shot, stating that there is only a "slight under-supply" of movie theatres in the Santa Clarita area. And the ROA recognizes that two movie theatres have already closed in recent years (the smaller theatre at Valencia Town Center and the Mann theatre on Cinema Drive). Assuming that any new theatre would be mostly patronized by Newhall "locals", since there are already multi-screen theatres in Valencia and Canyon Country, is there really enough population to support this proposed 8-12 screen theatre in Old Town Newhall? Still, this movie theatre was included in the study as occupying 60,000 square feet of space.

Medium-Box Potentials… Nothing Here Either!

Of the "medium box" potentials, only Burlington Coat Factory was listed as a "long shot" and all others listed were not seen as potentials for the area. So, a big fat zero for the "medium box" retailers as well. The ROA didn’t allocate any available square footage to this type of store.

Others seen as potential "opportunities" for the area were Bally’s or Gold’s Gym and Anna’s Linens (currently in Mission Hills), and possibly an Office Depot. As for Office Depot, there’s a new one on Copperhill Drive in Valencia, so it’s unclear whether they’re ready for a second store or not, and it’s possible that the consultants weren’t aware of this store at the time of the Retail Opportunities Analysis (ROA). So an Office Depot should likely be crossed off the list of "medium box" potentials as well. And since Gold’s Gym was already located in Santa Clarita in recent years and is now closed, it’s not that likely that they’ll choose to open a new facility here either.

Still, the ROA allocated 25,000 square feet for the gym (fitness center) and 35,000 square feet for Office Depot. No space was allocated for a potential Anna’s Linens store.

Of the more "local-serving" retailers, the ROA sees Wild Oats / Henry’s Marketplace (a specialty grocery store) as a possibility to open a store in the redevelopment area, since they’re currently looking to expand. The ROA also states that there’s the possibility of attracting a major chain pharmacy (drug store) such as Long’s or Rite Aid, but again we come back to the population issue, where there likely isn’t enough population local to the Newhall Redevelopment Area to support a local resource like these. Generally people will go to the closest pharmacy to where they live unless there are compelling reasons to go elsewhere, so the prospect of a Long’s or Rite Aid drawing traffic from an extended area beyond the 5-mile "locals" zone seems to be a long shot at best. Even so, the ROA allocated 20,000 square feet for a local drug store.

Local-Serving Anchors… Sufficient Representation in the Area Already

The Retail Opportunities Analysis (ROA) defines local-serving anchors as primarily grocery stores, and the study recognizes that there are plenty of those serving the area already with six grocery stores located within 1.5 miles of Old Town Newhall. Not only are there the smaller stores like Tresierra’s (with two locations in the area), there are larger stores such as Vallarta, Ralphs, Vons and Smart & Final within a short drive from Downtown Newhall. Therefore, no new grocery stores are presented as part of this redevelopment plan.

In the next installment, we’ll be looking at the potential high-end stores (boutique and others) as well as a wrap-up of the whole retail section of this series. This next section is very detailed, and we’ll name many of the stores that are being considered. Stay tuned!

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