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Westwood residents and business owners expressed concern about local businesses like Copeland’s Sports closing down and the businesses replacing them.

Some Westwood residents and business owners are disappointed with the imminent closures of two Village shops and the tenants who may replace them.

Breadstiks market on Gayley Avenue is on its way out, due to increased competition, and Copeland’s Sports on Westwood Boulevard reportedly may be replaced by a CVS Pharmacy.

Locals are concerned about the stores’ possible replacements: instead of what they see as much-needed apparel and specialty stores, these prime locations could be occupied by tenants who business owners say will further take away the glitz of Westwood.

“One of the problems that Westwood has been facing for a long time is that they create the same types of businesses in excess, including salons, eating places, and drug stores,” said Clinton Schudy, manager of Oakley’s barber shop, which has been in Westwood since 1929.

Schudy said he would like to see a retail store, perhaps a clothing store, replace Breadstiks.

Schudy would, then, be disappointed if one of the tenants that could take over the Breadstiks location succeeds in doing so. The Blood and Platelet Center was looking at the Breadstiks location as one of two Gayley Avenue spots into which it could move, after it failed to secure tenancy in other Village locations.

CVS Pharmacy, meanwhile, could be another addition to the many drug stores in the area. There are six drug stores on Westwood Boulevard alone, with CVS Pharmacy reportedly looking to become the seventh.

“This area is getting saturated with pharmacies,” said Lila Rioth of the Westwood Homeowners Board.

The Copeland’s Sports building is being sold by Madison Marquette, who was Longs Drugs’ landlord at the time they signed their leasing contract last winter.

Jason Cochran, a Copeland’s representative, said reports that CVS is moving in are unconfirmed, but the Los Angeles Business Journal reported that the 1001 Westwood Boulevard complex, in which Copeland’s Sports is presently located, was sold to CVS in September.

On November 6, representatives for CVS Pharmacy appeared before the Westwood Community Design Review Board seeking approval for three new signs and architectural modifications to the Copeland’s building, said Steve Sann, Westwood real estate and leasing consultant.

Sann attended the meeting as a member of the public and was not present in any sort of professional capacity.

Though CVS’ possible move-in date is unknown since Copeland’s Sports is still under contract through July 2004, CVS Corporation is reportedly currently negotiating to buy it out.

CVS Pharmacy has already ordered three signs for the building as well as customized automatic doors, raising some people’s speculation that they may be operating as soon as the first quarter of next year.

“The Westwood Community Design Review Board recommended approval for signage and facade renovation,” said Jae Kim, a city planning associate with the L.A. City Planning Department. He said the final approval was imminent.

The multitude of drug stores that have opened within the last two years led to Breadstiks’ decease, said Bob Lippman, co-owner of Breadstiks and UCLA alumnus.

“Rite-Aid had a small effect and Ralphs had a substantial effect (on the demise of Breadstiks),” Lippman said.

Though Breadstiks was a fixture in Westwood for many years as the sole grocery store in the Village, Copeland’s Sports had never done too well in Westwood. The store went into further decline when the chain opened another store in Ackerman Union, siphoning off many of their student customers, Sann said.

Still, it has been the only sporting goods merchant in the area.

“I’m sorry to see it go,” said U.S. National Inline Downhill Champion and Westwood resident George Merkert.