SHERMAN OAKS : Chamber Hopes Shermanopoly Collects $3,000

In an effort to come up with a unique idea for promoting Sherman Oaks businesses, the local Chamber of Commerce went back to the game board.

The business group has come up with Shermanopoly, a localized version of the popular board game Monopoly. Businesses who buy squares on the board will have their names appear in place of Park Place or Boardwalk.

The venture is a fund-raiser for the chamber, which hopes to net about $3,000. People may begin placing orders now for the game, which will be available by mid-November, said Julie Russell, the chamber’s executive director.

Russell envisions a game board that will include such landmark community businesses as the Sherman Oaks Galleria and Tower Records. Just about any business, organization or professional with community ties can pay to have their name put on the board, a chance card or play money.

“Even a family can be part of the game,” said Dan Siegel, a project director for Hometown Games, which is manufacturing the games for the chamber. “The only people we would turn away is an X-rated business. This is a family game.”

Spaces on the game board go for roughly $240 to $960. Not only do businesses get their names in the game, they also get their money’s worth of the games, which sell for $19.95 a piece.

Hometown Games has made enough changes in the appearance of the game that Parker Bros., the maker of Monopoly, could not accuse it of trademark infringement, Siegel said. For example, unlike the original Monopoly, which used primary colors and a square playing area, Shermanopoly will sport pastel tones and a playing area with rounded corners.

said chamber President Nancy Schmidt.

However, the game rules are similar to those of Monopoly.

“We think it’s going to be a fun kind of thing, a unique piece for the Valley and a real positive way to get our name out,” Some businesses have already expressed interest in buying “real estate” in Sherman Oaks. According to Siegel, the Sherman Oaks Galleria has said it will buy a space, and others who have made inquiries are Robinsons-May, Taco Bell, Sherman Oaks Castle and American Pacific State Bank.

Sherman Oaks is the third community in the San Fernando Valley to indulge in such fun and games, joining Chatsworth and Westlake Village. Other Southern California cities to come out with their own games are Beverly Hills, Moorpark, Malibu, El Segundo, Santa Barbara and Rancho Bernardo.