Since September, coffee, steak, lobster and a gym have all announced closures along the same few miles of The Old Road and Pico Canyon Road. Most of those decisions were made well beyond this corridor. Starbucks cut 250 stores across North America, Red Lobster lost a lease while it was still shrinking nationally, and LA Fitness's parent company is closing clubs across the country. The fourth closure is the restaurant with the deepest local roots, and its announcement gave no reason at all. Just weeks before the first closure, a family-owned Santa Clarita Valley coffee company announced a new shop on Pico Canyon Road.
The fall, location by location
Here is how each closure stands as of this week, according to KHTS.
| Business | Location | Last day | Reason reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lobster | 27500 block of The Old Road | Sunday, Sept. 20 | Landlord did not renew the lease |
| Starbucks | 25164 The Old Road | Late September | Part of Starbucks' closure of 250 "underperforming" North American stores |
| Outback Steakhouse | Stevenson Ranch Plaza, 26200 block of The Old Road | Announced as Oct. 25 | None given |
| LA Fitness | 24945 Pico Canyon Road | Scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m. | None given; the parent company is closing LA Fitness clubs nationwide as it shifts toward Club Studio |
KHTS called Outback "the latest restaurant closure to hit the west side of the Santa Clarita Valley." The closures look like a pattern. The reasons behind them differ.
The Starbucks was one of 20 in LA County on the same Saturday
The Starbucks on The Old Road served its last drink on a Saturday in late September. KHTS reported that it was one of 20 Los Angeles County stores the company's store locator showed closing that day.
Those 20 were part of a plan to close 250 North American stores, roughly 1% of Starbucks' more than 18,000 locations on the continent. In a letter to employees, Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said the company was closing stores "where we do not believe we can consistently deliver the experience we want for customers and partners or where we don't see a path to acceptable financial performance."
The building has turned over before. KHTS noted that it was a Chuy's Mesquite Broiler until 2022, so the Starbucks ran there for about four years. By KHTS's Oct. 12 report, the space across the parking lot from Outback was empty.
Red Lobster's site already has a replacement on file
Red Lobster is the clearest case of a closure that came with a plan for what's next. KHTS reported in September that the restaurant's Valencia manager attributed the closure to the landlord not renewing the lease. The same article noted that Red Lobster closed more than 100 restaurants during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that its CEO said in February 2026 the company was still reviewing leases, especially at underperforming restaurants.
The paperwork for the next tenant had been filed before the last lobster was served. KHTS reported that a construction permit filed with Los Angeles County on June 22, 2026, describes a Raising Cane's with a drive-thru and an attached outdoor patio. A demolition permit filed Sept. 8 covers tearing down the roughly 8,173-square-foot Red Lobster building and its landscaping "to prepare the site for a new Raising Cane's restaurant."
A Raising Cane's representative gave Fall 2027 as the projected opening. The chain had 991 locations nationwide as of August 2026, 144 of them in California.
On this corner, a sit-down seafood restaurant is giving way to a drive-thru chicken-finger stop, and the decision ran through a lease and county permits months before diners heard about it.
Outback is the closure with the longest local history
Outback doesn't fit the pattern of the other three, and that's why its story stands out. The Stevenson Ranch restaurant was a franchise, and the KHTS announcement of its expected Oct. 25 final day gave no reason for the decision.
The history is what sets it apart. The restaurant opened Tuesday, March 4, 1997, as the 10th Outback in the Los Angeles area. The night before it opened, it held a special event that raised $5,000 for the SCV Boys & Girls Club. Its original franchisee, Russ Bendel, went on to serve as CEO of Mimi's Cafe, The Cheesecake Factory and The Habit Burger Grill.
KHTS described it as a familiar stop for "birthday celebrations, casual date nights and dependable comfort food" across generations of local diners. A restaurant that opened with a fundraiser for a valley youth organization and lasted nearly 30 years is a different kind of loss from a coffee shop on a corporate closure list, and that's true even though no reason was given.
LA Fitness is consolidating, with two Santa Clarita clubs staying open
The gym at 24945 Pico Canyon Road is scheduled to close Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m., according to a notice posted on the club's window. KHTS reported that no specific reason was given. It also reported that parent company Fitness International LLC has confirmed multiple LA Fitness closures across the U.S. in 2025 and 2026 as part of a shift toward its upscale Club Studio brand.
For people who work out there, KHTS laid out the following, based on what members were told:
- Members can transfer to another nearby club or cancel without penalty.
- Members whose home club is Stevenson Ranch get access to every LA Fitness location nationwide, Signature clubs included.
- Two Santa Clarita clubs are expected to stay open, one on Newhall Ranch Road in Valencia and one on Golden Valley Road.
- Cancellations can be made by mail to PO Box 54170, Irvine, CA 92619-4170, in person at any club during open hours, online through an account at lafitness.com, or by email to [email protected] from the address on file.
Those terms come from the company's notice to members as KHTS reported it. They're general information, not legal or financial advice, so check the specifics of your own membership directly with LA Fitness.
Club Studio's own locator lists a club at 1351 E. 19th Street in Upland, a long way from the west side of the Santa Clarita Valley. For Stevenson Ranch, the practical change is a drive to Newhall Ranch Road or Golden Valley Road.
The new shop on the same block of Pico Canyon Road
Shortly before the national chains began trimming their store counts along this corridor, a smaller company was moving in. San Fernando Coffee Co. announced a grand opening for Friday, Aug. 7, from 11 to 11:30 a.m. at 24921 Pico Canyon Road. That's in the same 24900 block as the LA Fitness that closes in December. The SCV News announcement promised food and drink specials, giveaways, live music, family activities and local vendors.
The SCV Chamber listed the event as a grand opening and ribbon cutting, and it described the Stevenson Ranch shop as the company's third Santa Clarita Valley location. KHTS has described San Fernando Coffee Company as family- and Hispanic-owned, with roots in San Fernando and Sylmar and a shop in Canyon Country. The company says it sources certified fair-trade and organic beans from Latin America. Its online ordering page lists the Pico Canyon Road store for pickup and scheduled orders.
That's the clearest contrast of the fall. Starbucks left The Old Road after landing on a list of 250 stores, and a coffee company with three SCV locations announced it was opening a short drive away on Pico Canyon Road.
The dates still ahead
As of this week, two of these changes are still on the calendar:
- Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2 p.m. LA Fitness at 24945 Pico Canyon Road is scheduled to close for good.
- Fall 2027. Raising Cane's projected opening on the former Red Lobster site in the 27500 block of The Old Road.
Of the four sites, the Red Lobster site in the 27500 block of The Old Road is the one with a named next tenant, backed by county permits filed in June and September.
When a storefront goes dark, its story shapes how buyers see the street around it. At Kym De Lorenzo, we follow these corridors closely, and we bring that knowledge to how we price and present a listing. If you're curious how The Old Road's changes factor into your home's value, request your free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
