More vacancies on State St. including Forever 21, Youth Interactive and Plum Goods in Santa Barbara
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Thousands of square feet of space have opened up on State St. in Santa Barbara in the last few days when the lights went out at three addresses.
The big hit was the Forever 21 clothing store at 901 State St. at the corner of Canon Perdido. The chain overall has been struggling and late last year said it would be closing many stores but not the one in Santa Barbara.
That has now changed.
The clothing products were boxed and bagged inside the business Monday. The mannequins were lined up in a row next to empty display racks.
There was no sign on the window with a closed or farewell message as is sometimes the case.
That adds another 18, 300 square feet to the available inventory in downtown.
Just a few addresses up, Plum Goods is completely cleared out at 909 State St.
The owner Amy Cooper has, for the last several years, been a leader in trying to redesign State St. and its ability to keep a vibrant shopping and entertainment scene going. She was part of a team that wrote a multi-page list of recommendations to the City Council, many they approved and were trying to consider in the months ahead.
Her dream did not get much traction prior to the coronavirus scare, and the last few months cast a dark shadow on the road ahead.
Cooper was often glowing about her locally owned boutique . It had unique gifts and one of a kind pieces of merchandise, clothing and health care products.
Like other similar stores, the battle was often between the need for more foot traffic and the easy clicks available for on line shoppers.
She says in the weeks ahead she will have an upgraded website and her remaining inventory will be for sale there.
Also closing is the Youth Interactive store in the 1200 block. It has not been open since late last year, and now it is completely cleared out.
The products there were made by local kids, and youth start ups. It also held many workshops.
In the same block, Taqueria Santa Barbara has opened at a time when many businesses are struggling. As with all restaurants now, it is all grab and go with no inside seating until the Covid-19 crisis eases and seating is allowed.
In the last few days, some businesses that temporarily closed downtown when the coronavirus crisis hit, have reopened. Among them the famous Joe's Cafe, now offering take out meals and drinks.
Still looming in the area is the vacant three story Macy's store at Ortega and State St. It closed in 2017 and while a variety of pop ups have taken place there, no major new tenant has moved in.
Downtown Organization President Bob Stout and many restaurants, still open, recently launched the Employee Appreciation Trade (EAT) as a way to build morale with front line workers. Participants put in as many $20. gift cards and certificates as they wanted, and took out a similar amount from the pool of other businesses. It is a way to reward their workers with a perk.
That not only offered a different type of bonus to the employee but also enabled them to go into similar businesses and show support to active service workers.
