Yeti Menace

There’s a giant sucking sound in Glendale and it’s sound of the Americana extracting what was left of all the air out of the the commercial retail market. This morning I was casually riding my bike to the dentist and I was struck by the ubiquity of the “For Lease” signs on empty commercial properties lying like frat-room beer empties all over downtown Glendale. The most glaring example of this is the vacant shell of the Barnes & Noble just a few blocks away. B&N moved it’s Glendale operation out of it’s anchor tenancy on Wilson & Glendale Ave over to Americana. In Glendale, this seems to be the trend.

To be fair to Rick Caruso and his $400M controversial behemoth Americana at Brand (I know, the name is horrific), the air has been leaking out of the Glendale commercial real-estate market for years, recently hastened by the “economic downturn” (i.e. recession). Just across the street at the Glendale Marketplace (yes, the place with the frogs… don’t ask) Linens & Things shuttered years ago only to be lured back this year to re-open… and then close again. Likewise downstairs from L&T, the superstore combo of Tower Records and CompUSA (f.k.a. GoodGuys) is totally empty… ouch! Looks like this Americana neighbor is the victim of 3 totally different business plans gone sour.

All I can say is if you are planning on starting a business in downtown Glendale, you better bring your own oxygen.