SAN DIEGO — Some businesses have been told to vacate the Mission Valley Mall as the store owners say their leases have not been renewed. They say after helping to bring people back to the mall during the pandemic, they're now being tossed out.
“It’s bitter-sweet, you know, to see this place go, you know, after everything that I worked for," said Anthony Temple, owner of three storefronts at the mall for the past three years.
Two of his businesses, Temple Custom Jewelers and Temple Barber Lounge, have to be vacated by Saturday, June 1.
“Everything you see here from the stations to the electrical, even the walls that were put up, I built it from the ground up,” said Temple as he gave CBS 8 a tour of his barber lounge.
When he found out the leases were not going to be renewed, according to Temple, he was told his businesses did not fit the mall’s plans for redevelopment.
“To be given a 30 days-notice after you’ve put three years of your hard work, blood, sweat, and tears into something, yeah, it’s devastating, you know, it’s hard to digest,” said Temple.
His third business, Blu Temple Cigar & Wine Company, was featured in our Shop Local spotlight last year on CBS 8. The lease for that one is up in September, and Temple says he has been told it won’t be renewed either.
“Everything you see here, I built myself, even from the tables to all of the décor," said Temple while showing CBS 8 around Blu Temple. "Everything you see here, man, I put my blood, sweat, and tears into this thing.”
Another business told to vacate earlier this month was The Origin Hip Hop Academy, which was featured in our Shop Local series.
“It made me feel very disappointed. It made the families and the parents of our children and students very disappointed,” said Cheryl Frye, owner of the Academy.
According to Fry, she was told her business didn’t align with the new vision for the mall.
“They just said that it was going in a new direction, and the only new direction that we started to see was that we were all Black-owned," said Frye.
In July 2023, Westfield sold both its east and west Mission Valley shopping centers to new owners for $290 million, at which time Centennial, a Dallas-based retail real estate owner and operator, was hired to manage Mission Valley East.
The mall’s general manager David Doyle told CBS 8, "The fact that some tenants have not had their license agreements renewed is strictly a business decision. It is important to note that race and ethnicity does not have any bearing on tenant contracts or agreements as the center does not condone racism in any way and does not allow any form of discrimination to impact its business and policy decisions."
In the statement sent to CBS 8 in an email Wednesday, Doyle further wrote, "With 60 national brands and 48 locally operated tenants, including 73% that are minority owned or operated, we are committed to providing shoppers with outstanding, diverse, sought-after stores that will enhance our customers’ shopping experience and meet the needs of our local community."
Frye told CBS 8 Wednesday that Origin Hip Hop Academy is working out of an iterim location in Bay Park currently while she is making arrangements for a more permanent site in Carlsbad.
Temple told CBS 8 he is working on new locations for Temple Barber Lounge and Blue Temple Cigar & Wine Company, and that Temple Custom Jewelers can now be found in Otay Ranch Mall.
“We’re going to continue to build, you know, it’s a little upsetting, a little discouraging, but we’re going to continue to push," said Temple.
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