Jungle Vibes Closing, Greenbriar Apartments Sold and More Business News

, a much-loved toy store that has been part of downtown Petaluma for 18 years is closing next month, another victim of a stagnant economy.

The store has been steadily losing money for seven years, said Wayne Morgenthaler, who owns the toy and gift store with partner Connie Madden and Will Mendoza.

“Everyone loves it and everyone wants it, but we’ve essentially been running this as a nonprofit for several years now,” Morgenthaler said, saying that there has been no growth in sales for close to a decade.

“There isn’t any doubt that online sales have impacted us," he said. "But the bigger issue is that we’ve seen an unprecedented economic collapse in people’s personal wealth. Suddenly, my customers have 30 percent less wealth than they did four years ago.”

Two years ago Jungle Vibes expanded and took on a new owner, Will Mendoza, who owns next door. But the collaboration was not enough to fight off tepid sales, including people who came in, compared prices with smart phones and went somewhere else to purchase them.

“It’s been a wonderful project,” said Morgenthaler, who hosted many events at the store such as hula parties, kids' open mic and family days. “I’ve enjoyed talking to people, wrapping their presents and I’m going to miss that.”

The store’s last day will be February 12 and everything is at least 25 percent off. Costumes are 30 percent off, train sets 40 percent off and kites 50 percent off.

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Greenbriar Apartments will be bought by Capital Valley Investments (CVI) after months of legal, bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings on the property and on former owner Bijan Madjlessi.

After months of negotiations, CVI finally gets the apartment complex it considers to be a great acquisition, according to Jim Roberts, vice president of acquisitions at CVI.

“The plan is to reassemble this project as an apartment complex,” said Roberts.

Buying the property proved to be a challenging task since the property had previously been divided into 28 parcels, one for each building. After Madjlessi defaulted on payments, U.S. Bank and WestAmerica Bank took over the apartment builds, while Land Holdings held the common areas of the apartment complex. Madjlessi is now  in Nevada.

The next step for Greenbriar will be construction, as previous tenants claimed many units were uninhabitable, which . CVI will use its own subcontractors to restore the property, with the hope to have it completed by next January.

“We’re going to get this thing restored, and we’re going to beautify it,” said Roberts. “It’s not going to be a black eye on the community anymore.”

CVI owns 31 properties in California and two in Washington, with a total of about 6,500 units. CVI will tap Riverstone Property Management to run the property.

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Terminix moved to Petaluma from its offices in Santa Rosa this past winter, bringing its 35 employees with it.

The new North Bay location will be at 1610 Corporate Circle, near Shollenberger Park. Terminix will add three positions with the move to Petaluma, two full-time sales position and one part-time administrative position. 

According to a release, the move will allow Terminix to be more centrally located in the North Bay that can help it expand geographically.

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Agency Service Bureau (ASB), a personal and commercial insurance lines provider, bought space at 737 Southpoint Blvd, Suite F, as it expands its company.

“We’re moving to a bigger office,” said co-owner Tiffany Bell.

ASB will consider adding positions at the new location. While it bought space, ASB will keep ownership on its current office space at 696 Petaluma Blvd. North, said Bell. The plan is to lease that space to a new tenant.