Vons Market Shuts Doors After 34 Years

Customers trying to shop Friday at a Vons market in Sherman Oaks that has been open for 34 years were dismayed to find the grocery store has closed and will be replaced by a pharmacy.

“I need food, not drugs,” said Mimi Vautrin, a 76-year-old housewife who walked from her apartment three blocks away to buy milk, garlic and other sundries. “I don’t have a car, and none of the other markets around here are within walking distance.”

Vickie Sanders, a spokeswoman for the Vons market in the 13300 block of Riverside Drive, said the firm turned down a chance this fall to renew its lease. She declined to explain the reason for the closure Thursday, saying “the company’s real estate dealings are private.”

But longtime shoppers said that in recent years fewer customers stopped by the small supermarket as larger grocery stores opened nearby.

Thrifty Corp. has leased the store and will open a drugstore there, said Gary Meade, a vice president of the firm. Meade said the company will remodel the store, a project that is expected to take several months.

Two other businesses that have operated for more than 30 years in the small shopping center have been affected by the closure. Maxson’s Drugstore has to move because its lease was not renewed, said Ellis Herz, one of the owners. The lease expires in October, 1990, but the drugstore may move sooner to the corner of Hazeltine Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, Herz said.

“The landlord told us we couldn’t stay because Thrifty’s was coming in,” Herz said. “I’m not angry at him because business is business, but I’m obviously upset about this.”

Herz said his drugstore may be replaced by a fast-food restaurant. But the owner of the shopping center, Charles Anderson, was out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment.

The post office substation located within Maxson’s will move with the store, Herz said.

The fate of the other store in the center, a five-and-dime named Quigley’s, is uncertain, owner Roger Quigley said. Now that the supermarket has closed, Quigley said, he is afraid business will drop off and he will be unable to pay the rent.

Shoppers said Friday that adjusting to the changes at the center will be difficult. “We were a little community with everything we needed here, and now we’re not,” said Marcia McHara, 53, a junior high school teacher.