OJAI : Plans for Bookstore in Bank Put on Hold

Plans to open a bookshop and coffeehouse in an abandoned bank building in downtown Ojai have been put on hold because the would-be buyers missed a deadline to sign a contract, a Bank of America spokesman said Thursday.

But Terry and Penny Davies, who own the Earthling Books stores in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, said the banking giant never told them that time was running out.

The Davies last fall began the process of opening their third store--a combination bookstore-coffeehouse--in the former Bank of America building at 307 E. Ojai Ave.

They went so far as to draw up plans for expanding the building and applied to the city Planning Commission for tentative approval. At the time, some competing bookstore owners complained that Ojai does not typically endorse chain businesses.

“We looked carefully in Ojai before we decided we wanted to buy that building,” Penny Davies said. “We need a space large enough for a good-sized bookshop that will also hold a cultural events center and a cafe.”

But Bank of America began negotiating with another buyer when it failed to receive written confirmation of a verbal agreement with the Davies, spokesman Charlie Coleman said.

“There were repeated reminders (of the March 4 deadline),” Coleman said Thursday. “It wasn’t until March 25 that we heard back from them, and even then it was not a complete, signed contract.”

Penny Davies said she and her husband would still like to purchase the property.