Sink or swim [Southern California]
Merchants at the eclectic Seaport Village shopping complex are seeing something they’ve rarely seen amid the T-shirt shops and jewelry stores: empty storefronts and liquidation signs.
There’s the shop near the waterfront that once housed The Cabbage Tree. Its owners recently took the “midnight run” – emptying the gift store in the wee hours and disappearing, leaving landlord Terramar Retail Centers to try to collect on the lease obligation.
Across the sidewalk, there’s the “Closed for Inventory” sign hanging in the window of Whitt/Krauss Objects of Fine Art. The art gallery filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January, owing creditors for everything from a $5,640 catering bill to about $250,000 in projected 2009 rent and maintenance fees.
And a few steps away, the Big Dogs sportswear shop is holding a liquidation sale as the Santa Barbara chain prepares to close all of its 71 stores.