New business could fill old Mervyn’s building soon
Santa Maria’s planning commission is meeting this Thursday to take a look at a proposed department store downtown. If everything goes smoothly, the new store could be moving into the old Mervyn’s building soon.
In 2008, Mervyn’s filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores across the nation. Since then, the old building in Santa Maria has sat vacant. Recently, National Stores Inc. purchased the property and it is already renovating the inside. The plan is to open a Fallas discount store.
“The more people come in the center and the more all of the businesses in the entire center are being utilized, the better off for us overall,” said nearby business owner Amy Lopez.
There are still some hoops to jump through. The planning commission meets Thursday to review the plans then present its findings during a public hearing on the April 17. In the end it will be up to the city council to approve the project.
Both sides seem confident everything will go ahead as planned, which makes many people in Santa Maria very happy.
If everything goes according to plan, National Stores Inc. expects to open the doors at Fallas this June.
