Marquez Market, which had been in business for eight years, closed its doors last Friday. Owner Mazen Elkhoury told the Palisadian-Post in early December that he feared he would have to shut down his store at the end of the year unless he was able to work out a new lease with the landlord, the Wilson Family Trust. Elkhoury, whose store occupied one of the prime locations in the Marquez Avenue shopping strip off Sunset, said at the time that he was still hoping ‘to reach an agreement that would work for both of us. I know how much rent I can afford to pay and still make money. Even though the store has been here a long time time I am not going to shoot myself in the foot just to pay the rent.’ The 2,500-sq.-ft. space, one of the largest retail sites currently available for lease in the Palisades, is renting for $2.75 a square foot, according to Greg Pawlik, the Coldwell Banker commercial broker who has the listing. Pawlik said he has already had several inquiries, ‘including one from an individual thinking of opening a personal training center, another from someone who wanted to open up another mini-market.’ Nayereh Rouphrvar, whose Park Lane dry cleaning and laundry business is located next door at 16648 Marquez, thinks a ‘discount store like a 99 Cents store would be good.’ Rouphrvar, who has been in business for 20 years, said she is not interested in expanding into the Marquez Market space. She currently pays $1,400 a month for her approximate 650 sq.ft. Ronny Naidoo, who owns Ronny’s Market & Liquor at 16642 Marquez, also said he was not interested in relocating. While he and Elkhoury have been ‘friendly competitors’ for years, Naidoo had the advantage of ‘having a liquor license and a sandwich deli,’ which brought in added revenue. Naidoo said he is looking forward to the proposed beautification plans to spruce up the block, which will include new signage for the soon-to-be-named ‘Marquez Village Shops’ business district. ‘The plan is to take down the big ugly signs that are over some of the storefronts now and bring the street up to Swarthmore standards,’ Bob Jeffers, of PRIDE, explained at a Palisades Community Council meeting in late November. Naidoo said he supports the plan. The improvements, expected to cost $95,000, will be done in three phases and besides the new signage, will include antique lampposts, benches and trash cans, as well as landscaping of the island triangle at the corner of Sunset and Marquez.
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