Staples says its Los Gatos store will be closing in April or May
Town has not received inquiries about space
'Opportunity for retailer'
By Gloria I. Wang
Faced with an underperforming store in terms of financial profits, Staples has decided to close its Los Gatos location, at 423 N. Santa Cruz Ave.
No official closing date has been set, but Staples Vice President of Public Relations Tom Nutile said the close will occur in either April or May. All items in the store have already been reduced by 5 to 10 percent, and management has started to clear the inventory.
Nutile said the company is continually evaluating the performance of its stores, and at last evaluation, three branches of the 149 stores in California were identified as underperforming: Los Gatos, Northridge and west Sacramento. Nutile declined to elaborate on which financial factors were used to label a store "underperforming."
According to Nutile, despite those steps, Staples is on track to open 129 new stores worldwide in 2002.
The closing was announced Jan. 31.
Marty Woodworth, Los Gatos redevelopment agency manager, said the town has not received any application for a new business in that space. Woodworth expects that, as the closing date approaches, the town will hear from brokers representing businesses that would like to move into the building. "I assume we'll get some strong interest from different folks," Woodworth said.
According to Woodworth, there are a variety of uses for the building, but the town has not decided what type of retail is appropriate.
"It is a good-sized building so it is a good opportunity for a retailer to move in," Woodworth said, adding that there are few spaces that large and that close to downtown Los Gatos.
Staples opened on N. Santa Cruz Avenue in November 1995, six months before Office Depot came to town.
In 1996, Staples and Office Depot announced a merger of the two companies, and it was expected that one of the stores in Los Gatos would close. The Federal Trade Commission, however, blocked the merger in an antitrust ruling.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
