Goodwill signs lease for Nicholby's spot in Ventura

In a down economy, the thrift store becomes a haven for the strapped middle- and/or lower income person. One can find barely used items — clothing, purses, hats and shoes for children and adults — and revamp his or her entire wardrobe for less than $25.

Because inexpensive merchandise is in such high demand, business owners and entrepreneurs are jumping on the bandwagon. In the last couple of years, two new large thrift/consignment stores have opened in downtown Ventura — Buffalo Exchange and Treasure Chest. While Buffalo Exchange will pay a small stipend for clothing deemed appropriate for sale in the store, Treasure Chest, as well as other thrift stores, thrives on donations — and lots of them — at no cost to the store.

With no city policy in place about drop offs, clothing and other merchandise has been known to pile up behind certain thrift stores, including Treasure Chest, frustrating neighboring business owners with the unsightly clutter and undesirables who will sift through the donations while the businesses are closed.

But it’s not what is happening currently at local thrift stores that is prompting an outcry from downtown merchants, it’s due to what is going to happen — Goodwill will be returning to downtown Ventura, taking over the location where Nicholby’s antique mall, currently resides until February 2010, when its lease ends. On Monday night, several Ventura business owners and residents made their plea to the City Council, in correlation with the announcement posted on the Nicholby’s storefront about Goodwill coming to that location that something needs to be done about the surge of thrift stores in downtown. One suggested a moratorium, temporarily halting the opening of any new thrift stores; another suggested policy changes so that donations must be offsite and not in plain sight.

“Several folks were testifying, expressing a variety of concerns,” said Jeff Lambert, Ventura’s new community development director. “The council directed staff to come back to the next meeting, (Monday, Nov. 16) outlining options for action to control the operation or expansion of thrift stores.”

According to Lambert, one main concern was the pile up of the donations outside, in back of the stores. The problem with the Nicholby’s location is that there isn’t a place to take in donations — the back alley way for traffic borders the back of the store. Business owners want a policy in place that will prevent such unattractive sights in the future — before Goodwill returns to downtown.

Whatever policy changes may be decided upon before Goodwill arrives they won’t stop the store from opening.

“It might be too late, but it is still a worthwhile conversation,” Lambert said.

Real estate agent Paul Capra, with Lee and Associates, handled the deal between Goodwill and the property owner. He said that negotiations fell through with other potential tenants, local and national, mainly due to lack of parking for the building.

The apparent casualties in this deal are Nicholby’s — as well as its customers. But owner Nick Taylor, who currently resides on the Oregon coast, didn’t seem to be too phased by the situation.

“As to what all this means for Downtown, for better or worse, it is just an evolutionary process,” Taylor said in an e-mail. “Ventura is a beautiful beach town. The disappearance of the mom and pop stores is a shame, but did anyone think it would even last as long as it did? I feel blessed for my time doing business in Ventura and for the people I have known there.”

His biggest concern, though, is for his employees.

“The loss of Nicholby’s is only tragic in the sense that I feel that our manager Jason Stowell and the other fine people who work at the store will no longer be there to represent our community. Whether someone from out of town or from down the street, all were treated with honesty and kindness.”

“Jason always has a couple dollars for someone who is hungry and bought many items from people in need only to then throw them away,” he continued. “It’s funny, I don’t think that the closure of a store selling a bunch of old stuff is such a cultural loss, but losing the people of Nicholby’s will be hard to replace.”

While Taylor didn’t feel the loss of Nicholby’s would have such a profound effect on the community, collectibles and antique stores are specifically addressed in the Downtown Ventura Organization’s retail strategy as way to draw people to the shopping district.

“The DVO adopted and presented to the City Council the retail strategy and it was done in conjunction with the city,” said Dave Armstrong, chair of the DVO economic restructuring committee. “We brought in an expert on helping independent businesses thrive and a strategy that would facilitate that. We came up with four main categories that would utilize our existing strengths.”

Two of the categories — outdoor adventure and the arts components — are doing well, but the other two — antiques and collectibles, and convenience stores — are faring poorly, with antiques and collectibles drying out, Armstrong said. (Convenience stores were to come with an increase in people that live in downtown — which hasn’t occurred yet.)

“The notion is you have to have a critical mass to draw people here from further away,” he said.

Armstrong said that such stores are being priced out, and he is struggling to figure out why. No matter what the cause, with the loss of the decades old antique store, a part of downtown’s eclectic nature also disappears.    

The City Council will discuss policy changes and recommendations regarding thrift stores on Monday, Nov. 16, at City Hall in council chambers. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m.

michael@vcreporter.com