Tommy Bina says he’s been kicked out of his own store.
The man who ran the Canyon Country Store for 44 years posted a statement to Facebook Wednesday morning saying new owners have taken over the Laurel Canyon landmark, told him he’s no longer welcome on the property, and asked him to leave. Longtime employees, he said, have also lost their jobs.
“Today is a very sad day for me and for our canyon,” Bina wrote. “The Laurel Canyon Country Store has been taken over by new owners.”
He says he didn’t see it coming and still doesn’t have answers. “I have asked many times for answers from my partners, but they have shared nothing with me,” he wrote. What he does know: at some point in September, there was a transfer of the liquor license that he believes wasn’t done properly. No notice was posted. He was removed from the corporation, from the store, and from the license.
He thinks he still owns the property.
“I now have a lawyer, more than one,” he wrote. “We will look into all of this.”
Bina has owned and operated the store since 1982, turning the tiny mural-covered market at 2108 Laurel Canyon Blvd. into something closer to a neighborhood institution than a convenience store. The store sits just over the hill from West Hollywood, at the point where Laurel Canyon Boulevard climbs out of the flatlands toward the Hollywood Hills. Jim Morrison lived on Rothdell Trail directly behind it and named it in a Doors song. Mama Cass lived in the basement. For decades Bina kept all of it intact, the photos, the history, the British candy section he started stocking after he figured out a regular customer in flashy suits was David Bowie.
Now he’s been told to leave.
“This is not the Canyon Store we know and love,” he wrote. “But please do not worry. I am fighting for the Canyon Store. I care deeply about this place and these people and I will do everything I can.”
The post was shared via the Instagram account of Jackie Desi, who noted in the caption that she would relay any comments left to Bina directly.
WEHOonline has reached out to Tommy for additional comment. Tommy’s full note below.
Via Tommy Bina’s facebook page:
(If there are any comments you’d like to leave, please do so and i will relay them to Tommy. Please be kind during this time. Thank you)
Dear Laurel Canyon,
It is me Tommy.
I write to you with verry heavy heart.
Today is a very sad day for me and for our canyon. The Laurel Canyon Country Store has been taken over by new owners. I do not have much information to share. I wish I did. I have asked many times for answers from my partners, but they have shared nothing with me.
The only thing I know for sure is this. At some point in September, there was a transfer of the liquor license that I believe was not done properly. There was no notice posted. I was removed from the corporation, from the store, and from the license. I think I still owm the property.
I now have a lawyer, more than one. We will look into all of this.
For now, the new owners have come in and told me I am no longer welcome at the store. They asked me to leave. Many longtime employees, people we all know and love, have also lost their jobs.
This is not the Canyon Store we know and love.
But please do not worry. I am fighting for the Canyon Store. I care deeply about this place and this people. I will do everything I can.
With too much sadness, & Tommy
they sold it out from under him.
Unbeknownst to him until it was too late.
This is very sad as it was my go to Place when I moved out to LA. I’d learn the areas and drive from downtown to the valley and loved Laurel canyon the most. 1970 and little did I know my husband lived up kirkwood but didn’t meet him for 15 years down the road but I always stopped at the canyon store for a sandwich soda and chips. My husband knew Tommy , he moved in with me in 86 and we still stopped in on way back from directors guild or when ever we were on the city… Read more »