The following letter was sent to Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich.
I am the general partner of the Malibu Country Mart properties located at 3835 Cross Creek Road, 3900 Cross Creek Road and 23410 Civic Center Way in the Civic Center of Malibu. I have been primary owner and manager of these shopping centers since 1985. The properties include approximately 60 local businesses.
It has recently come to my attention that the Malibu City Council has discussed the concept of establishing a ban on chain stores. I am strongly opposed to this idea and I urge you to consider the input provided thus far by Tony Dorn of Beitler Commercial Real Estate and Stephen Soboroff of Malibu Creek Plaza Shopping center. I am in agreement with their opposition to enacting any limitations on chain stores and I would like to add the following additional reasons for your consideration,
Malibu residents are already burdened with limited shopping options in the local community. They deserve to have a selection of high quality purveyors of goods and services to choose from. Quite often, the best quality and/or prices are associated with chains. Usually the reasons that they are a chain is because of their success and acceptance by the public.
What is a chain? Is it 1,000 stores, 100 stores or two stores? Is it a company that has a store in the Hamptons and another store in Boca Raton that wants to open a third location in Malibu? Is it a company that has a chain and wants to open a similar store in Malibu under a different name? What about a company that opens its first store in Malibu and subsequently becomes a chain?
What happens when an owner of a local business decides to sell their store and lease and a chain is the only or the best available buyer?
I am not familiar with the precedent regarding a ban of this type but I believe that it could be considered an undue restraint of trade. I believe that such a ban could lead to extensive and costly litigation for the City of Malibu. Are these matters not better determined by the buying patterns of the local residents?
Would the Malibu community gain by banning multi-unit, highly desirable retail businesses like Nobu, Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tealeaf, Planet Blue, Ron Herman and Cosentino’s?
What about supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations and banks, which are almost always chains?
I believe that without local government involvement in the leasing process, the Civic Center in Malibu has evolved very successfully for the benefit of the community. The commercial village of the Civic Center is beautiful, charming and comprised of very high quality local businesses that are a mix of chain and non-chain businesses. I would encourage you to allow the free enterprise process, which has worked with great success in our community to continue.
Michael Koss