A “for lease” sign is out in front of Here We Grow, the now-closed preschool in west Goleta whose enrollment grew precarious after a gun shop moved next door. Owner Heather Robbins was open for six months at her new location at 7433 Hollister Avenue, when nearby residents noticed her preschool’s new neighbor. By the time fall rolled around, half her families had pulled out, and she had no new enrollments.
“I don’t attribute the closure entirely to the gun store,” Robbins said, adding that she was not closing to make any point about guns or gun ownership. “Without clients willing to put their children in a school with a gun store next door, I couldn’t make it work.”
Since July, when neighbors first noticed the former 7-Eleven was to hold Goodland Guns, parents and residents had protested to the City of Goleta over a permit process that lacked notice to the community. Since then, Goleta has paused any new gun store permits while it creates an ordinance that places a buffer zone between preschools and firearms retailers, as well as a new notice process for gun shops.
Robbins said her preschool had been growing slowly and had about 15 kids, her break-even point. Enrollment during the fall, her busiest time, was to double her capacity, she’d projected. Instead, with enrollment in single digits, “We didn’t have enough reserves to make it through a hard phase yet,” she explained. “It was too soon in our growth to have something big happen.”
Most of the preschool families found a new spot, with some choosing the tranquil location Here We Grow occupies on Turnpike Road. Robbins said she’d started caring for children by operating as an all-infant center, with one adult looking after three infants, and now her staff looks after toddlers and infants.
“I feel for the owner of the gun store,” Robbins said. “We are both just trying to run our businesses.”
Goodland Guns was open when the Independent visited last week. Dan Ashton was behind the counter, helping a customer purchase ammunition, which required a surprising amount of paperwork. He said he had a couple of conversations with Goleta officials about locating a new spot, but no one got back to him with any ideas.
Ashton disagrees that the gun store would be inherently unsafe near a preschool. But, just in case something came up, “I offered them walkie-talkies so we could communicate,” he said, gesturing toward the fence dividing the two properties, but he got no response.
The notoriety the issue has caused has not hurt Ashton’s business. “I moved here, expecting to lose about 30 percent of my business. Instead, it’s grown by about 5 percent,” he said.
Robbins has chosen to concentrate on her business, too: “It’s time to heal and move on,” she said.
