BAGS PACKED—The Coach store in the Simi Valley Town Center closed on Saturday, leaving an empty storefront near the mall’s center courtyard. After four-and-a-half years in business, the luxury handbag maker said competition from three other Coach stores in a 13-mile radius hurt sales, a company spokesperson said. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers One of the city’s few high-end boutiques closed Saturday, leaving an open space—at least temporarily—at the Simi Valley Town Center.

After four-and-a-half years in business, the Coach store at the mall shut its doors Feb. 27.

The luxury handbag retailer was one of the mall’s premier shops when the Town Center opened in October 2005. But local competition—four Coach stores in a 13-mile radius—necessitated the closing, said Andrea Shaw Resnick, senior vice president of investor relations and corporate communications for Coach.

“It was a business decision given the subsequent development in the area and Coach store openings,” Resnick said in a statement. “As you may know, we actually have three additional stores in the area. . . . Two of these stores were opened after the Simi Valley store opened.”

The other Coach stores are at The Oaks in Thousand Oaks, Northridge Fashion Center in Northridge and Topanga Plaza in Canoga Park. Northridge and Topanga opened after Simi.

Resnick declined to give details on the reasoning behind the closing, whether it was the result of the slow economy or if the Simi storefront had struggled since its inception. Resnick said the closing was mostly due to “changes in retail in the nearly five years since the Simi Valley location was opened.”

Town Center General Manager Keith Geiger said he is in talks with three potential tenants to fill the open retail space.

“At this point we have a few prospects, and we’re deciding what will be the best for the mall,” he said. “It will most likely be a similar store to Coach. It’s probably a little too small for apparel; it’s probably going to be something like purses or accessories.”

Geiger didn’t know the exact date when Coach would vacate the space or when a new store might open.