Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Real estate offices close in wake of acquisitions

By Clarence Cromwell

Los Gatos Coldwell Banker will shut its doors Sept. 26 in a consolidation move that follows the purchase of Cornish & Carey by Coldwell's parent company, National Realty Trust.

The office's 34 sales agents and four staffers, including broker-manager Tom Brennock, must decide within a week whether they'll look for work at another Coldwell office or quit.

"I have a lot of disgruntled agents who were hit between the eyes," Brennock said.

On Sept. 10, National Realty Trust added Cornish & Carey to holdings that already included Coldwell Banker, Fox & Carskadon and Century 21/Contempo.

It's not likely that all the agents will find jobs at local Coldwell offices, because only a handful of desks are available at the recently purchased Los Gatos Cornish & Carey office, said Ben Rahimi, a Coldwell sales executive for more than three years. He said sales agents believe Cornish & Carey managers will decide which employees will be transferred.

The Cupertino Coldwell Banker and San Carlos Cornish & Carey offices also will close. The Cupertino office employs 47 people.

Further closures are expected on the peninsula, Brennock said.

Brennock said Los Gatos Coldwell Banker's best agents were courted by Cornish & Carey representatives shortly after the closure unfolded.

"They don't want them going to the competition," Brennock said.

NRT decided to eliminate the three offices because they're in areas where Coldwell competes with Cornish & Carey, Brennock said. Both the Los Gatos and the Cupertino offices were profitable, Brennock said--but Cornish & Carey has a larger share of the market. In San Carlos, where a Cornish & Carey office disappeared in the merger, Coldwell holds the larger market share.

Brennock said Coldwell manager Alain Pinel and former Cornish & Carey President Dennis Moreno asked him for a 9 a.m. meeting Sept. 18. They walked in that morning and surprised Brennock with news that the office would be closed within a week. Sales agents learned of the closing at an office meeting a few hours later.

Agents will complete any transactions started before the announcement, and they will get their commissions.

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