A longtime fixture of Cross Creek Plaza disappeared Friday Jan. 16 when Pet Headquarters closed its doors to the public.Former Pet Headquarters manager Paul Dalton bought everything left in the store and opened his own pet store Pacific Coast Pets in the Malibu Colony the day after Pet Headquarters closed.
Dalton said Cross Creek’s rising rents were primarily responsible for the closure in addition to the sluggish economy low sales and protesters.
“There wasn’t much that we could do Dalton said. The landlord has a plan for the shopping center. The fees are tripling and quadrupling and with six or seven other stores leaving the center it is like a ghost town.”
Retail Holdings Group purchased the Cross Creek shopping center in November of 2007 from Steve Soboroff who had owned the shopping center for 19 years.
Pet Headquarters is not the only store leaving Cross Creek. Casa Escobar the Salon at Malibu Creek and Pritchett-Rapf realty announced their intention to close or re-locate according to a Jan. 14 article in The Malibu Times. Some have already done so.Pet Headquarters stopped selling puppies after owner Kevin Madden began selling the puppy window enclosures to Last Chance for Animals (LCA) a national animal protection organization in early December of 2008. According to Dalton after investing approximately $40000 in the animal enclosures Pet Headquarters sold them at a much lower cost to LCA which donates the enclosures to animal rescue shelters.
Darlton said some customers missed seeing the puppies when they came to the store.
“People would get upset that there were not any puppies to look at when they came by Dalton said. It was a big draw for business.”
But junior Rebecca Geibel said she was upset to see puppies in cramped enclosures.
“My mom and I walked by the puppies in the window and my mom felt so badly for [one of them that] she decided to buy it Geibel said.
Pet Headquarters also faced opposition from protesters such as LCA, which only supports the sale of dogs from rescue shelters. The group opposes the sale of animals in pet stores because they believe pet stores perpetuate the existence of puppy mills, which they say treat animals inhumanely and mass produce puppies for sale to pet stores.
Although protesters were not the only reason for the store’s closing, they made it difficult for the business to survive, especially when sales were already low because of current economic problems. Dalton said Pet Headquarters had to call the police many times when protesters blocked entrance to the store and started fights with customers.
Some of the protesters were just down-right-nasty … telling lies about the store and saying that all animals that came out of the store were sick and deformed Dalton said.
However, Kim Sill, the campaign leader of LCA, said the protesters were fighting for the right cause.
I understand both sides of the story but if you have ever been to a puppy mill you would understand why we are out there fighting for the animals she said.
Dalton denies protesters’ accusations of animal mistreatment, and said Pet Headquarters invested greatly in their animals’ health and well-being.
If they really wanted to protest and help puppies they would be out in South Central picking little stores that are like crap Dalton said. I hate bad pet stores too … but don’t group every pet store together.”
Rather Dalton said the protesters were seeking exposure by targeting pet stores in affluent areas such as Malibu and Beverly Hills.
“[Instead] they came to a store in Malibu where we spend oodles of money taking care of the dogs Dalton said.But Sill said she was saddened to see the store close because Pet Headquarters had a 15-year tradition in Malibu.
We didn’t want to put Pet Headquarters out of business. We worked with them until the very end to and helped Dalton and his staff move across the street she said.
However, she said she is hopeful that Pacific Coast Pets will offer better treatment for animals.
Dalton said he will not sell dogs at Pacific Coast Pets. Instead, LCA will arrange for different rescue groups to host dog adoptions every Saturday in front of the store.
In time we may get small animals in the store such as rabbits to give the place the nice pet-store feel Dalton said.
Sill urged Pepperdine students and Malibu locals to volunteer at the weekend adoptions and become more educated about puppy mills.
We saw a rise in the purchases of small dogs when Paris Hilton started carrying her dog Sill said. Students are our future we want them to know why we are out there. We want passion to be the fashion.”