The Willow Glen Resident Kragen Auto Store relocates, fills spot next to Babe's Pizza Babe's owner plans to leave center after start of the New Year By Cecily Barnes Last week Kragen Auto Parts in Willow Glen, which has operated on the corner of Lincoln and Meredith avenues for 10 years, drove two blocks up Lincoln Avenue and parked at the old location of People's Pants. "It's twice as big," gleams Kragen store manager Martin Anaya. "At my other location, the store was growing but it didn't have room to grow." With the extra room, Kragen's in Willow Glen will now offer bed mats for trucks, tool boxes, bug deflectors and other space-consuming items. Another crucial reason Kragen moved deals with a complaint often heard in Willow Glen--too little parking. Anaya fans his hand across his new parking lot with a look of disbelief on his face. "At the other store, we had only five designated parking spots. People would just keep driving because they didn't want to find a parking space," he says. "Now we've got parking. Just that fact is going to improve business." The storefront Kragen now occupies has been vacant since People's Pants packed up its merchandise 17 months ago. Before that the center had been a bustle of activity with the U.S. Post Office, a coin-operated laundry, the Lettuce Inn and Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. When these businesses left one by one, only Babe's remained. All alone on the less-populated end of Lincoln, the pizza shop suffered a drastic drop in business. "I imagine it caused about a 25 to 30 percent loss," Babe's owner George Castonguay said. Goosetown Caffe owner Gary Rovai jokes that he and Castonguay run businesses in "East Berlin," while just one block away "West Berlin" thrives. "We feel like we're a little oasis on this side of Willow, but the oasis is going dry. It's just Goosetown and Babe's Pizza now." Although Kragen sheds a ray of hope and prosperity for Babe's and Goosetown, Babe's owner Castonguay says it's too late. He's already planning to move out come the first of the year. "It will add a lot of color and freshness to the center, but it's at the eleventh hour," he said. "I would imagine we'll be moving by the early part of next year." Castonguay says he's looking into taking over the kitchen at Sharky's, but nothing is definite. What is definite, however, is that Castonguay will pick up his pizza shop and move. "I'm happy for Kragen and I'm sure they'll bring lots of activity to the center, I just have different business philosophies with the landlord," Castonguay said. Meanwhile, Goosetown's Rovai plans to stay put. While he doesn't expect Kragen clientele to regularly frequent Goosetown, he believes the auto shop will bring a much-needed spark of energy to northern Lincoln. "At least we're going to have something lit up next to us," Rovai said. "Any type of business on this side of Willow Street is welcome." Rovai also says he's sorry to see Castonguay go. "Besides being an outstanding proprietor, he also brought people to the center," Rovai said. Kragen's sub-let agent, Martin Leon, says the old location is available for lease, but nothing has been decided yet. Restaurants, hair salons and collectible shops have contacted Leon, but nothing has been determined. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, November 4, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.