Valencia Marketplace in Stevenson Ranch is about to gain a Nike outlet and lose a Family Christian Store.
The sportswear behemoth has leased space for a Nike Clearance Store at the retail center on The Old Road between Stevenson Ranch Parkway and Pico Canyon Road, just west of I-5.
The 20,680 square foot space formerly held an Urban Home store.
“We are thrilled to have Nike join the Valencia Marketplace, said Terrison Quinn, senior vice president and market leader with SRS Real Estate Partners, brokers for the property’s owners. “They will be a great addition to the shopping center and the Santa Clarita Valley as a whole.”
Family Christian Store is closing its 5,000-square-foot store as part of a corporate liquidation. The 240-store chain, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2015, announced yesterday that it is shuttering all its locations.
“We have had two very difficult years, and after prayerfully looking at all possible options, and trusting God’s plan for our organization, we have made the difficult decision to close our stores,” Chuck Bengochea, Family Christian’s president and CEO, said in a letter to customers. “Family Christian will begin the closing process soon.”
Bengochea said that “despite improvements in our product assortment and our store experience, we have not been able to generate the sales necessary to sustain our business,” citing a changing retail landscape.
The company did not specify when the stores will close, and the Stevenson Ranch store remains open for the time being. The chain, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., has 240 stores in 36 states, including 24 in California.
Valencia Marketplace is operated and managed by JG Management in Westlake Village. The company, established in 1983, owns and runs shopping centers, medical and general office buildings, flex office, hotels and single-user buildings in seven states, including 18 properties in California.
The new Stevenson Ranch Nike clearance store is not yet listed on the company’s store locator, and no opening date has been announced.
Nike’s corporate website and independent job-listing sites include job openings at the new store. In keeping with the company’s athletic product lines, store associates are called athletes and department managers are called coaches.
Nike operates Nike Stores, running stores, factory outlets and clearance stores. The Valencia Marketplace store will be the first of any of them in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The closest Nike Store is at The Grove in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. The company has factory outlets in Camarillo and at Tejon Ranch in Arvin, and a clearance store in Alpine. Nike also owns Converse and Hurley, which have their own retail outlets.
