A sense of closure

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- Retailers at a quarter-century-old shopping center on

Harbor Boulevard are feeling the squeeze from the brand-new Harbor

Center.

The aging shopping center’s largest tenant -- a Lucky supermarket, turned

Albertson’s -- moved down the street last month, sucking with it

thousands of regular customers.

It’s not difficult to imagine why the supermarket moved from its

dilapidated, wood-shingled, orange-tiled digs to the shiny, space-age

steel and curves of the Harbor Center.

But it is hard to predict how businesses in the shopping center -- which

now has a gap as conspicuous as a 6-year-old’s smile -- will survive.

“We’re going to lose a lot of money if they don’t do something fast,”

said Linda Viniegra, owner of Gourmet Water, a store selling cups of

fresh juices and water by the jug. “We would move closer to where

Albertson’s is now, but it’s just too much money.”

Viniegra said she renewed the store’s three-year lease last year without

being told the supermarket would be moving. She said she learned about it

soon after she signed the lease.

“And what we know was secondhand information,” she said. “I read about it

in a magazine.”

She claims her sales have dropped by approximately 40% since the

supermarket relocated.

“People used to come in after they shopped and buy water,” she said.

Forest Fisher, owner of the shopping center, said he thought he informed

all of his tenants about the move as soon as he found out.

“It’s a hardship to everybody,” he said. “All I can say is the problem

exists and we’re trying to fix it.”

Part of the problem is that Albertson’s continues to lease the empty

building. Fisher said the supermarket has the option to continue

extending its lease for up to 15 years.

Albertson’s officials could not be reached for comment.

“We’re talking about getting them out of there,” he said. “But until I

control the property, I’m not in position to do anything but talk to

people.”

Ed Fawcett, president and CEO of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, said

the supermarket chain may not be in a hurry to give up its old store. He

said doing so might open the property to a competitor.

Other store owners in the shopping center, including the owners of China

Kitchen and Best Cleaners, said business has dropped significantly since

the supermarket closed. They said they hope Fisher finds a new tenant

soon.

“Maybe the best thing to do is to scrap it and start all over again,”

Fawcett said. “It could use much more than a face-lift.”

But Aaron Millstein, the owner of OC Pizza, said business has been even

better for him since the change. He said the move has freed up the

shopping center’s parking lot, which had been perpetually cluttered

during supermarket hours.

“We’re more visible now,” he said. “I think this might actually help us.”