Strouds closes, linen store to open in Menlo Strouds closes, linen store to open in Menlo (June 25, 2003)

By Jane Knoerle
Almanac Staff Writer

After 24 years at 700 El Camino Real in Menlo Station Shopping Center, Strouds, a home fashion store specializing in linens, is going out of business. Over on Santa Cruz Avenue, a Paris-based fine linen store plans to open in July.

According to the Strouds Web site, all 50 Strouds stores are closing. The specialty retailers of bed, bath, tabletop and other home textile products filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code May 20 in Los Angeles. The company has engaged an outside liquidator to sell existing inventory and assets.

Gift certificates, merchandise credits, and returns will no longer be accepted, according to the Web site. The Menlo Park store will remain open until all its inventory is disposed of.

The Wherehouse music store, also located in the Menlo Station shopping center, closed earlier in the year.

Paris-based linen shop

While Strouds closes, a Paris-based fine linen store is planning to open next month at 656 Santa Cruz Ave., a space formerly occupied by Whole Life Natural Foods.

In December 2002, an architect for the Yves Delorme Co. asked the city for an architectural control permit to make exterior modifications to the store. The application was approved January 22.

Bruce Horn of ARCO General, the Burlingame company that owns the property, said Yves Delorme is scheduled to open in Menlo Park at the end of July. The French company, which specializes in fine linens and home accessories, has nearly three dozen stores in the United States, according to its Web site, including its newest store in Los Altos, and one in Burlingame.