Discovery Channel Store, Lady Foot Locker remain closed after

flood

By: Tania Chatila

Two stores in the Glendale Galleria, the Discovery Channel Store and

Lady Foot Locker, remained closed Wednesday after a sprinkler broke

Tuesday flooding a large portion of the mall. The stores probably

will not reopen until this weekend or next week as employees restock

merchandise and clear damage sustained from a flood Tuesday morning,

officials said.

A sprinkler head was apparently damaged at about 11 a.m. Tuesday

as construction employees were working at the site of a new Hollister

store, on the second floor of the Galleria, Glendale Fire Capt. Bill

Lynch said.

The Discovery Channel Store, GAP and Lady Foot Locker, located

directly underneath where the sprinkler head gave way, were hit

hardest.

The Discovery Channel Store and Lady Foot Locker were roped off

Wednesday, as employees assessed damages and moved merchandise out.

While employees at Lady Foot Locker expect to be back in business

this weekend, Discovery Channel Store employees do not think they

will be able to open its doors until Monday.

“I was planning to return a pair of shoes,” said Priscilla Hong of

Los Angeles, who was turned away from Lady Foot Locker. The strong

odor of wet carpet permeated the first floor of the Galleria

Wednesday, near stores just south of the food court, and multiple

vacuums were set up to remedy water damage in the area.

Rima Avanasyan, of Glendale, arrived at GAP before they reopened

Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m disappointed,” she said. “Maybe I’m not going to wait.”

Major portions of the first and second floor of the Glendale

Galleria were roped off Tuesday and a dozen stores closed after the

fire sprinkler broke.

It took 10 to 15 minutes for firefighters to shut down the

sprinkler system and stop the flow, but not before it had spilled

thousands of gallons of water that seeped into 12 stores and covered

12,000 square feet of the mall, Lynch said.

“I didn’t see anything, except all of a sudden I saw a bunch of

water coming our way,” Melt employee Christina Klekot said. “We

didn’t open up again for the rest of the day, and we got to go home.”

Klekot said Melt, which sells gelato, would not suffer losses

caused by the closure, because there was no damage to the store or

merchandise, and insurance would cover the day’s estimated revenue

loss.

Losses for other stores, including those three affected most, have

not been tabulated yet, mall Senior General Manager JoAnne Brosi

said.

It could be somewhere in the millions when factoring in store

damage, merchandise and time lost, Lynch said.

* TANIA CHATILA covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at

o7tania.chatila@latimes.com.

f7