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Domus closing its Main Street store, again
Owner says it's time to retire, spend more time with her Los Altos family

Domus, the popular kitchen and home accessories retailer on Pleasanton's Main Street, will close next month just 13 months after its owner Margaret Smith reopened it to the cheers of both city officials and the Pleasanton Downtown Association.

Smith, who is in her 60s, said she plans to retire to spend more time with her husband in their Los Gatos home and their extended family on the Peninsula.

The closing means that Pamela Ott, Pleasanton economic development director, and Laura Olson, executive director of the PDA, will start all over to find tenants for the large 11,000-square-foot building.

When Domus opened its Pleasanton store in September 1998, it was part of Smith's Las Gatos store. Then she sold the Pleasanton business to John Maloney and his wife Cathy, who were allowed to continue using the name. The Maloneys later closed their business to pursue other interests, and the building was empty for more than a year until Smith closed the Los Gatos store and reopened the Pleasanton store Aug. 27, 2011.

Smith said that although her business here has been flourishing, it was time to retire. Starting yesterday and in the coming weeks, all merchandise in Domus and even its fixtures are for sale.

During the time Ott and Olson were looking for tenants before, a problem they found was that the large Main Street building is either too big for most small retail businesses or too small for a drug store, fitness center or other possibilities that were considered. Banks also have become unsuitable tenants downtown with both the City Council and Planning Commission ruling that two of them can't be located on the same block and, in fact, discouraging any more from opening downtown.

Smith has not decided if she will keep open a smaller Domus store in the Willow Glen section of San Jose.