Esplanade Mall May Be In for a Struggle : Oxnard: Some merchants and shoppers fear the worst after the loss of Robinsons-May. City leaders remain defiantly upbeat about the aging complex.

Once Ventura County’s top shopping center, Oxnard’s aging Esplanade mall will struggle to survive now that Robinsons-May has announced plans to relocate in rival Buenaventura Mall, some merchants and customers say.

“It will kill the mall,” said Greg Camarillo of Oxnard, shopping for a pair of sneakers at The Esplanade on Thursday.

But Oxnard leaders say the 25-year-old mall may not be DOA, even after Ventura leaders on Wednesday announced plans to lure away the department store to an expanded Buenaventura Mall. Defiantly upbeat, Oxnard leaders say they must work hard on a proposal to renovate The Esplanade before it withers away.

“There’s a lot of options,” said Oxnard Councilman Andres Herrera. “I don’t see this as a major problem. We’ve got the potential there. It’s a great location.”

The Esplanade could suffer another blow if its other anchor store, Sears, also moves to the Buenaventura Mall. Sources close to the Ventura deal have said Sears is considering the move.

Herrera said that possibility could indeed imperil the future of the 650,000-square-foot Esplanade, since Sears owns Homart Development, the company that manages and owns the mall.

“We need to regroup and get a status update on what the owners are willing to do and start moving forward,” Herrera said. “We have to determine whether the Homart people are serious about The Esplanade.”

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said Sears has more business sense than to abandon a mall they own and go to a rival shopping center nearby.

“The loss for them would be huge,” Lopez said. “I think Ventura would have to give them all of their sales tax back for the next 40 years.”

To lure large retailers to the Buenaventura Mall, Ventura leaders crafted a tax-sharing plan that would kick back more than $20 million in sales taxes over the next 20 years to the mall’s owner, MCA Buenaventura Associates.

In turn, the developer agreed to spend $50 million to add two more anchor stores to the mall and complete a second story.

Oxnard leaders say that to refurbish The Esplanade, they will have to consider similar incentives. City officials say they are negotiating with Homart Development on a proposal that would add one or two more anchor stores, a second story and a new facade to the fading mall.

As part of the negotiations, Homart Development is requesting that Oxnard build or contribute money toward the construction of a large parking garage, city officials said. Representatives of the Chicago-based company, which owns 32 shopping centers nationwide, did not return phone calls Thursday.

Experts said the competition between regional malls for the large marquee retailers that make good anchors has become ridiculously cutthroat--to the point that cities are giving away the store to lure the stores.

Mark Schoifet, a spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers, said the current climate of the regional mall business is the toughest ever.

Outlet malls, discount stores and other new retail trends are drawing customers away from regional malls, which in turn are fighting each other for the most attractive retail chains.

“This kind of thing goes on all the time in the industry,” Schoifet said. “This is not unusual. Occasionally you do have anchor stores that move and it’s all part of the ebb and flow of the retail business. And life goes on.”

Life will indeed go on for Oxnard shopper Maria Traxler--even if The Esplanade, a few blocks from her home, closes down.

Robinsons-May “is an expensive store, so people go there and say it’s too expensive, so they go to a cheaper store in the mall,” said Traxler, who works for the rival factory outlet mall in Camarillo. “I’m not going to come here.”

Still others said the long-rumored departure of Robinsons-May would have little effect on The Esplanade--because the retailer was doing lousy business in Oxnard anyway.