Burlington: We’re Being Forced Out

Burlington Coat Factory is proud of its blue-collar prices and so are its customers. But a bargain-basement mentality might not fit well with plans to transform the Huntington Beach Mall into a high-end shopping center with an Italian village theme.

The department store has sued the mall owner and the city of Huntington Beach separately over what the store believes are efforts to push it out because it isn’t upscale enough for the new image, a $100-million overhaul scheduled to begin this fall.

And Burlington has rallied its customers, handing out fliers that say the city and its redevelopment agency are trying to deprive residents of the chance to get “true value” for their “hard earned dollars.” Since Thursday, the store has collected hundreds of signatures on petitions, said Allen Jones, a store manager.

But the mall’s owner, Huntington Center Associates, denies it is trying to get rid of Burlington, and its lawyer contends the retailer is waging a public relations campaign.

Customers, however, were frustrated and irate Monday at even the prospect of losing a store where they can buy a men’s sport shirt for $9.99.

“If we want upscale, there are plenty of places to go,” said Garden Grove resident Bonnie Wheeler, who signed the petition. “This is for us middle-income people. It gives us an option we wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Darcy Ford, 54, a Costa Mesa resident and retired retailer, warned that stores trying to go upscale lose customers in the process, since shoppers really want value.

Burlington, which moved into the former J.C. Penney Co. site in the spring of 1995, asserts in one lawsuit that the center’s owner insists that the retailer pay almost quadruple its current rent to keep a spot at the struggling mall after the renovation. The owner also wants to decrease Burlington’s space by almost 40%, the lawsuit alleges.

The city does not believe that Burlington or Wards, which also operates at the center, fit the “upscale Italian theme,” Burlington attorney Aviv Tuchman said Monday.

“The landlord is working with the city to try to get rid of us,” he contends. Burlington’s lease, which runs through 2025, allows it to be part of any redevelopment with no rent increase, Tuchman says.

Mall owner Huntington Center Associates doesn’t own the property occupied by Wards, which is not involved in the lawsuits.

An attorney for the center and its parent company, Ezralow Co. in Calabasas, denied that the defendants are trying to push out Burlington. The property owner has not yet determined which retailers will remain when the center is reconfigured, said the lawyer, James Hughes.

The lawsuit’s allegations “are all unfounded and without merit,” he said.

Ezralow said in March that it would replace the tired, aging center, also known as the Huntington Center, with an upscale Italian villa and a variety of stores, high-end restaurants and a 16- to 18-screen cinema complex.

Burlington filed the lawsuit against Ezralow and Huntington Center in Orange County Superior Court in May.

Last month, it filed a separate federal lawsuit against Huntington Beach, its redevelopment agency and two city officials, claiming that, among other things, they interfered with Burlington’s attempt to force Ezralow to meet the terms of Burlington’s lease.

City officials could not be reached Monday for comment.