Mervyns stores in Fallbrook Mall and Janss Marketplace will be closed by the struggling retailer, a hit for the West Hills and Thousand Oaks malls that are also losing Linens 'n Things.

Two weeks after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Hayward- based Mervyns announced this week that it will close 26 underperforming stores, including 11 in California, a loss of about 100 jobs for each location.

"With the jobs that are going to be lost and the sales tax ... we're all impacted by this closure," said Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, whose district includes Fallbrook Center, the outdoor mall at Victory Boulevard and Fallbrook Avenue.

Zine said he will work with mall owner General Growth Properties to find new tenants for the center, where Linens 'n Things is in the final days of its liquidation sale.

Officials with General Growth did not return phone calls.

But the chief executive of the company that owns Janss Marketplace said he sees the store closures as an opportunity to strengthen the profitability of a key retail center.

"You're getting rid of tenants that haven't been performing for a while," said Sandy Sigal, president and chief executive officer of NewMark Merrill, the Woodland Hills-based mall owner.

"You want each tenant to contribute as much traffic as possible for the benefit of the whole center. I don't see any huge negative, other than timing. You like to see things happen in a more orderly fashion. Bankruptcy is not the way to go."

Sigal said Janss Marketplace lacks a supermarket, a sporting goods store and a general merchandiser, and that the firm is negotiating with retailers in each of those categories.

Besides Mervyns and Linens 'n Things, Janss Marketplace has a Toys 'R' Us, Mann Theatres, Marshalls and Old Navy.

Fallbrook Center anchors include Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Target, Michaels, Home Depot, Sportmart and DSW.

Mervyns LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on July 29, listing liabilities and assets assets of $500 million to a $1 billion each.

Linens 'n Things filed for Chapter 11 protection on May 2, announcing it would close 120 of its home furnishings stores.

In addition to the stores in West Hills and Thousand Oaks, Linens Holding Co. is closing stores in Moorpark and Camarillo.

Nationwide, retailers have announced almost 4,500 individual store closures this year, and 2,600 more are expected through December, the highest number of closings since 2001, according to an analysis by commercial real estate data firm CoStar Group.

barbara.correa@dailynews.com

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