DEAR BURBANK: A Texas real estate development company named Cypress Equities, who purchased the Burbank Town Center in April, now plans to bulldoze the beloved arcade of the mall and replace it with an entrance designed to draw in customers from their soon-to-be renovated site where the IKEA on San Fernando currently stands.

The result will be a TRIPLING of rent for the family-owned arcade inside the Burbank Town Center aka Burbank Mall, with several shops, like the beloved Candy Station and Cinderella Shoes (just to name a few) being forced out. This is the end of the Town Center as we know it.

For 23 years, the All Amusement Fun Center has survived as one of the only mom-and-pop arcades in the San Fernando Valley. Jim and Susan, the owners, have survived the recession and provided a safe home in the Burbank Town Center for families with special needs children; local summer camps; Burbank high students; parents bonding with their kids and anyone who wanted a safe place to congregate and play some old-school arcade games.

On March 15, Jim and Susan are being forced to close their arcade. For good. Families are now speaking out. Students, teachers, parents, local athletes, camps, clubs...the community is not happy about this. I Heart Burbank is how Cypress Equites is promoting their plans to turn the mall into an Americana-style shopping center: http://www.iheartburbank.com/

Yes, the Burbank Mall needs to be upgraded. But at what cost? Families and small businesses shouldn't be left out in the cold for a new food court and a more corporate retailers.

PLEASE HELP BY SIGNING THIS PETITION TO KEEP THE ARCADE IN THE MALL! YOU CAN CONTACT CYPRESS EQUITIES AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU THINK.

Chris Maguire, CEO | chris.maguire@cypressequities.com | 214-561-8897