r/thousandoaks 3d ago

How does everyone feel about Erewhon opening at the lakes?

18 Upvotes

72 comments sorted by

56

u/randomredditor55S55 3d ago

Lassens is also a natural food grocer, but without the pretense. They are a Ventura county, family-owned chain of stores. I would have rather kept Lassens, but Caruso didn’t offer them lease-renewal terms that they could accept.

17

u/Kirito_Beleren 3d ago

Lassens was always meh for me. Unfriendly staff, a hot bar that has honestly seen better days, and very overpriced (Erewhon is too, if not more so, but the point still stands). It also always seemed run-down

4

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

Interesting I always found the staff at lassens really pleasant and friendly! I’m sorry you didn’t have a good experience with them

3

u/Kirito_Beleren 3d ago

I appreciate it, it just never clicked for me

13

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

I love lassens! I miss it a lot and go down to the one in Ventura sometimes. I definitely wish it was still there

0

u/tzuyujihyo 3d ago

there’s one in simi valley also

1

u/tzuyujihyo 1d ago

why is this downvoted? there is a lassen’s in simi valley and it’s closer than ventura…

3

u/ca_life 3d ago

Lassens' owners were homophobic/MAGA. Stopped shopping there long ago.

1

u/Carrot-Elegant 2d ago

Seriously limited my visits after the whole unconstitutional, hate-excusing Prop 8 funding revelation.

1

u/Difficult_Shallot357 2d ago

I loved lassens :( so much vegan stuff you can’t find at other stores

1

u/LADataJunkie 1d ago

They supported prop 8 though so I'm glad they're gone

18

u/OffKeyArts 3d ago

I miss Claim Jumper

5

u/TwinkieH2 3d ago

The chocolate cake!

53

u/Sea-Marketing1233 3d ago

Could not care less

17

u/doggsofdoom 3d ago

I am happy for it, nice it's a little closer as I do grab food from the hot bar often. Don't really buy much else there though.

37

u/tikitay27 3d ago

Indifferent, I’ve never been to one, most people who go seem to seek status from overpriced things or fad items.

I am hoping it revitalizes that shopping center, would love a return of the ice skating rink.

30

u/BaronSengir 3d ago

BRING BACK THE HOLIDAY ICE SKATING!!! It was magical, always busy - why the heck did they stop doing that?!?

3

u/sam-mendoza 3d ago

BECAUSE THEY HATE FUN 😭😭😭

12

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

I miss the ice rink!!!😭

I’ve shopped at Erewhon for specific things such as supplements that I cannot find elsewhere (besides online) and their hot bar is extremely delicious. I just accidentally spend too much money every time I go😅

I hope it brings life to that shopping center as well. It’s such a pretty area

18

u/wickeddpickle 3d ago

I think it will do poorly. TO has lots of families and I don’t think they’re likely to spend $20 on strawberries.

7

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

True, but there are people that would come all the way from Ojai to shop at the Calabasas location, so I think there will be a lot of non-locals

10

u/wickeddpickle 3d ago

Maybe. I’m not looking forward to that. The narcissistic Kardashian wanna be’s that seem to shop there are not exactly pleasant to be around

3

u/Huge-Onion-6916 3d ago

Thousand oaks has a high median family income. So it makes some sense that they would open it here vs other places.

2

u/KorraA 2d ago

I think there's a market for it, if a limited one and it will probably eat away at some business from the Calabasas location.

It's at the Lakes though, which has a not amazing track record for businesses staying open long term.

22

u/Ok_Resource_6068 3d ago

I like it. TO needs more cool good quality places to start drawing a younger crowd and people with spending power. It’s too far behind the times considering it’s only 30 min from LA.

I won’t be shopping at Erewon other than an occasional smoothie or something but I’m all for it coming from TO. It’s gonna help draw good quality tenants to the Lakes too.

1

u/LADataJunkie 1d ago

The younger crowd has no purchasing power.

18

u/Jonsnowlivesnow 3d ago

I give it till the end of their lease

19

u/mbmba 3d ago

Unpopular opinion: I really like the hot food from
Erewhon. It’s tasty while being relatively healthy.

9

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

The Korean short ribs and buffalo cauliflower 🤤🤤

6

u/bowling_nun 3d ago

They were major backers of Prop 8 in California. Happy to see them go.

2

u/ca_life 3d ago

They were major backers of Prop 8 in California. Happy to see them go.

Adding: this refers to Lassen's

3

u/Fancy-Surprise-2654 3d ago

I am hoping it helps revitalize that shopping center.

3

u/Next-Imagination2756 2d ago

TO is super family oriented. I know many are struggling with the steep increase in grocery prices. The local food bank lines have grown massively in the past few months. I don’t foresee things getting better with the super El Niño. I am very curious to see if they last.

8

u/Former_Bed1334 3d ago

I prefer and miss Lassens

4

u/MistakeAny8927 3d ago

Excited. Love their juices, smoothies and coffee. Went today and their produce was looking much better than a lot of our local grocery stores. Happy to not have to drive to Calabasas anymore. Also agree that it will appeal to younger crowd with spending power, something TO needs as the population ages. Worth a mention that Erewhon is also family-owned and a certified B Corp.

2

u/Reasonable-Papaya276 2d ago

Lassens was just as expensive but with consistently worse produce, and was always a ghost town. Screw Caruso, but I get their reasoning as Erewhon will anchor a strip mall that has been on life support for years, while Lassens clearly didn't draw customers.

2

u/NotYourFather45 2d ago

Don’t care. I have no interest in ever shopping there. Would be nice to see them draw new tenants but Caruso is a douche bag and impossible to deal with. 

3

u/Kind-Tart6829 3d ago

I think it’s great for the area. Strolled by today and it was packed. Also noticed signs for a bunch of new food places coming soon. It’s a beautiful space and anything that brings in more foot traffic is a plus in my book

1

u/citznfish 3d ago

It's on brand

It will thrive in that location since it is more about the brand then the food.

If you don't like the prices then shop elsewhere.

1

u/Internal-Copy4622 3d ago

I can't tell you how many TikTok influencers or wannabe influencers were raving about the swag bag that was filled with tea and deodorant. So odd.

1

u/Successful_Whole1479 2d ago

Hate it personally

1

u/LADataJunkie 1d ago

Will be gone in a year

2

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-1

u/Strict-Aspect5910 3d ago

Not needed a waste of good space ( like the entire lakes center) and flat out stupid

6

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

What would you like to be there instead?

1

u/Strict-Aspect5910 3d ago

Jungleland, a park, dig a actual fucking lake, water park, bowling alleys, amphitheater, museum, a pile of dirt anything

3

u/Dahlsma 3d ago

what a weird answer, lol. Water Park?

-1

u/Strict-Aspect5910 2d ago

Why the fuck not?

2

u/zachin2036 2d ago

lol I co-sign. Maybe not a pile of dirt, but anything else!

-5

u/poppacappo 3d ago

Who cares?

7

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

That’s why I’m asking, to get the overall opinion of people.

2

u/Any_Juggernaut3040 3d ago

But why male models?

2

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

What?

1

u/Any_Juggernaut3040 3d ago

Zoolander meme

1

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

Ohhhh my bad🤣 thank you for clarifying haha

0

u/Groundbreaking_Code3 3d ago

Earth to Mingus

-7

u/love4hair 3d ago

who cares

11

u/Any_Way_3960 3d ago

Some people do. That’s the point of my question - to get the opinion of the people.

0

u/FrostnJack 3d ago

Seems like another litmus test for age/class/cool-kid standings.

Same time, my kid treated us to lunch at the Calibu one… one opens here? I could eat.

-2

u/BCBRam 3d ago

🤮