Home furnishings store to fill Tower Records space; Sherman Oaks Galleria finds anchor tenant.

A new retailer will make its debut in the San Fernando Valley as a result of the bankruptcy of Tower Records and the resulting vacancy in the Sherman Oaks Galleria.

Urban Home, a lifestyle furnishings chain with six locations in Southern California, expects to open its doors at the Galleria in April.

The retailer is taking all of the space in the anchor location, a two-story space totaling 32,000-square-feet that fronts Ventura Boulevard.

Terms of the deal, which was done as part of the bankruptcy proceeding with Tower, were not disclosed.

The store will be the largest for seven-year-old Urban Home, which has six stores in locations including Simi Valley, Westlake Village and Oxnard.

"This will be a flagship store," said Constantine Papanicolaou, president of Urban Home. "We will be featuring all our products at Sherman Oaks Galleria. Some of the older stores don't show everything because of lack of space."

The store's merchandise selection includes bedroom, living and dining room furniture, accent pieces like lamps and end tables, tableware, table linens, rags, bed linens and decorative accessories.

"Our stores have the look and feel of Pottery Barn, Z Gallerie, Crate & Barrel and Restoration Hardware with the price points of Ikea," said Papanicolaou, describing a casual, contemporary furnishings style.

Unlike Ikea, shoppers will not be able to take large items home from the store, but they can pick them up at the company's warehouse or arrange for deliveries.

Papanicolaou said he chose the Galleria for its central location and demographics.

"It's at the crossroads of the 101 and 405. It has very strong demographics and a very trendy mentality and it's very affluent,"

Papanicolaou said. "So we had our sites on Sherman Oaks from a long time back. We were looking for just the right time and opportunity. This is the time and opportunity."

The company's first store opened in Santa Barbara, and Urban Home now has locations in shopping malls as well as street sites.

Papanicolaou said that, after several years of refining the concept, he is ready to accelerate the chain's expansion.

"The beginning is always a trial and error type of thing," he said. "We had to study the market. We had to experiment a little bit and organize ourselves and make sure of what we were doing before we could fuel ourselves for growth. Now we are fairly confident of the nature of our business, and we're ready to continue our growth."

Although plans are not yet complete, Papanicolaou expects to open two more stores in 2007, including locations in Valencia and Burbank.

"And we have many more scheduled for coming years," Papanicolaou said.

Tower was among the first tenants signed when the Sherman Oaks Galleria was remodeled in 2000, but it never turned into the kind of anchor draw that was anticipated, largely because the rise of the Internet and digital music weakened all record store retailers.

Although its liquidation last year left a major vacancy at the Galleria, most believed that the departure of the company would prove to be an opportunity for Douglas Emmett, the center's owner.

Urban Home will join one other large retailer on the property, DSW Shoe Warehouse.

Colleen Kirnan, who markets the retail portion of the Galleria for Douglas Emmett, said the center had many options for direct leases, but, as a result of the bankruptcy proceeding, leasing was handled through the court process.

Senior Reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail].