DEADLINE NEARS THRIVING LOCAL THRIFT STORE EVICTED.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - A local secondhand store that supports medical and dental projects for the underprivileged worldwide has been served with an eviction notice from the doctors who own the building.

The Second Time Around thrift store, which benefits Children's Network International, was informed by landlords optometrist Michael Corben and orthodontist Alan Barbakow that they must vacate the store at Soledad Canyon and Camp Plenty roads by Feb. 29.

``We got the official notice on the 18th,'' said Roger Presgrove, the president and founder of Children's Network International. ``First, Alan talked to me and said he had some deli that wanted to expand and asked if would we be willing to reduce our size. I told him we had the space and could do that, but that was the last I heard of that. Then we got this notice.''

Calls to both Corben and Barbakow were not returned.

Presgrove said the rent on the 2,300-square-foot space started out at $2,500 a month when the thrift store opened in December 2001 and increased to $2,750 the second year, with third-year rents proposed at $3,400. But they never got that far.

``In December 2003, he asked us to go on a month-to-month contract, which we did,'' he said. ``Now we have to be out by the end of the month.''

Presgrove said Corben had been upset because people left donations outside the door after the store was closed, despite signs posted asking that donations be made only during operating hours.

``We can't control the public,'' Presgrove said. ``But even Corben's wife said that we were the best tenants and always paid our rent on time. It was like, 'We hate to see you go, but here's your eviction notice.'''

Children's Network International, a humanitarian relief organization founded in 1998 and based in the city of Bell, distributed more than $22 million in resources and revenue worldwide in 2001 and has received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator because less than 1 percent of its income is used for administration.

Locally, the thrift store not only generates funding for the group's Hunger Defense Fund, but also provides personal hygiene items at a reduced cost. The Hunger Defense Fund food bank helps 175 families a month, who come to its nearby warehouse via referrals from local churches or word of mouth.

``We help seniors who are just getting by and people living under the bridges by the Metrolink station, or single mothers having a tough time making ends meet,'' Presgrove said. ``If one of them has a job interview and needs a suit or a dress, we can give them a voucher for the store so they can get something nice to wear.''

Store manager Charlie Hoover spent Tuesday morning looking for alternative locations to keep the retail effort going. Presgrove was scheduled to review one of the possibilities Tuesday afternoon.

``This community likes the store,'' Presgrove said. ``We've done everything we can to keep it pleasant, and the people here have embraced us. We used to bring donations from downtown L.A., but that stopped after the first six months. Everything in that store has been donated by people in Santa Clarita.''

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Pat Robinson, Second Time Around's assistant manager, sorts through racks of clothes. The store must move by Feb. 29.

(2) Pat Robinson mans the phones at Second Time Around, the thrift store that must find a new place to operate by Feb. 29 according to landlords who have handed out an eviction notice.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer