Dead mall walking Dead mall walking (May 06, 2005)

With the end near, Alma Plaza tenants look to developer for help

by Jocelyn Dong

Marcie Zacanti, owner of B.J. Bull in Alma Plaza, sat outside her eatery this week wearing a blue short-sleeve blouse, white cotton skirt and red tennis shoes. The sneakers were about the only bright spot at the decaying mall. Even the weather was gloomy.

"This is deadsville," she twanged, her southern roots showing.

Zacanti is one of five merchants left in the shopping center near the intersection of Alma Street and Meadow Drive, which was sold in February. Despite flinging the doors of her restaurant wide open, business has been off by 50 percent since the mall's Albertsons closed in March, she said.

By mid-afternoon Wednesday, Zacanti had earned $100 for the day.

"I'm just trying to pay my utilities," said the older woman, who has asked for a reduction in her rent from the mall owner.

Zacanti is relying on sales at local farmers' markets as the mainstay of her business now. Crates of freshly baked fruit pies sat on dollies in the middle of her restaurant, awaiting delivery.

Paying for a health-inspection permit and farmers' market registration fees are straining her wallet, she said.

"I've got to spend $1,000 before I can sell a cup of coffee," she said, frowning.

Loyal customers continue to trickle in to the center to visit the Mandarin Gourmet restaurant, Jacquie's Sew and Sew tailoring shop, the Alma Shoe Repair, Fandango Pizza, and B.J. Bull.

One shoe-shop customer took such pity, she brought in a boxful of lemons from her tree, suggesting owner Rufo Lacerna sell them for a dollar a piece.

"As income," said Lacerna, who bought the business in 2002 for $14,000. Now, he said, he has nothing to his name but the store. "It's become a nightmare."

"I do not want to do anything else unless we are told to," Lacerna said, his wife holding their toddler in her arms nearby. "We're hoping and praying to stay."

But that future is unlikely, given that John McNellis Partners, which bought the 5.6-acre mall in February, plans to tear the place down and build housing and a small grocery store. It is unclear whether McNellis also intends to have additional retail.

Lacerna cited a plan put forth a few years ago, when Albertsons still owned the property, that promised tenants would be relocated to another portion of the land while renovations took place. That plan has since been abandoned.

The promise, however, still stings Tom Kamali of Fandango Pizza, who said he was fully supportive of the mall's revitalization. He went along with the month-to-month lease, and even footed the bill for about $100,000 worth of signage and menu changes when he lost the Round Table Pizza franchise and turned the pizzaria into Fandango, he said. He lost the franchise because of the lack of a long-term lease.

For that reason, Kamali has requested financial help from McNellis and his partners in relocating to another place.

"Legally, they have no obligation, but morally, yes," Kamali said. "I know they can help, if they want. My hand is empty."

McNellis acknowledged that he is trying to find some tenants other places. "We're helping them out in so many ways," he said. He declined to discuss specifics, however, saying he was "in the middle" of working with tenants.

McNellis and Kamali both confirm that the developer offered the restaurateur a place in Antioch, but Kamali turned it down. Since a larger chain pizzeria had failed in the location, Kamali doubted he'd succeed there, he said, adding he is still hoping McNellis could find him another place.

The developer also indicated he proposed a Midtown location for Jacquie Knott, owner of the tailoring shop that's been at Alma Plaza for 25 years. But Knott is eyeing a place in downtown Palo Alto, despite the potential tripling of her rent.

"My question for (McNellis) at this time is, how much help can I count on from him?" Knott said.

One person who will also need to relocate -- but without McNellis' help -- is Chris Cunningham, a mall regular who sat outside Fandango this week in a plastic chair, sipping a Pepsi One. Cunningham has been coming to Alma Plaza three to four times a week for 22 years, taking in the center's atmosphere.

"This place is dying, man," Cunningham said.

He thought back over the center's history, and listed all the shops that used to operate there. When the now-defunct Bob's Donuts was still in business, he used to sit on their bench. "It was never real busy, but it was bankable."

Unlike the tenants, Cunningham already knows where he'll go when demolition day comes. He plans to move to California Avenue's Mollie Stone's.

Senior Staff Writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

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