The Oaks' Newest Tenants Are Being Built Around Kids and Thursday Mornings

Six businesses have opened or started taking customers at The Oaks in 2026, and a seventh is on the way. You can make slime at one of them. At others you can open a blind box, join a parent-and-child class, pick out bulk candy, train at a boxing gym, or sign a child up for a cooking class. None of them is a clothing store. The 2026 closures run the other way, with Francesca's announcing it would close every location, including its Oaks shop.

Put the year's leases and the mall's events calendar side by side and a pattern shows. The Oaks is filling its storefronts with places where you do something, usually something for children. Its regular events, including the kids' club and the farmers market, mostly fall on Thursdays.

What the New Owner Said It Would Build

Stockdale Capital Partners, a Los Angeles firm, completed its $157 million purchase of The Oaks in December 2024. The seller was The Macerich Co., which had owned the 85-acre center at 350 W. Hillcrest Drive since 2002. Ventura County records showed a transfer tax of $172,700, which matched the price that had already been reported. At the time, Stockdale said it planned to update the common areas, add events, expand dining and entertainment, and broaden the mix of stores.

By summer 2025, the Thousand Oaks Acorn reported that the interior had new paint, furniture and digital directories. The owners said the exterior would come "next year." Stockdale had also started the Little Oaks Kids Club, which meets twice a month on Thursdays, and added fitness classes with the Conejo Recreation and Park District. Stockdale's marketing director, Kate Carter, described the goal this way:

"We want it to be a place on a Friday night where it's your first choice of where to go. And we want it to be a place where there's always something new and exciting."

The same article covered housing. In 2017 the city named The Oaks one of six "opportunity sites" for large-scale residential development, and the general plan update changed the mall's land use from commercial to mixed-use. Stockdale told the Acorn it had no immediate plans to build housing. "Our immediate focus right now is the mall," Carter said. The leases signed in 2026 match that focus on the mall itself.

Seven Arrivals, in the Order They Came

1. Slime Kitchen held its grand opening on Saturday, March 7, with a ribbon cutting and a make-your-own slime session.
2. POP MART opened its first Ventura County store on August 17, on the first floor next to Starbucks. It sells designer collectibles and blind boxes featuring characters like LABUBU and SKULLPANDA. Jeff Bhathal, Stockdale's co-head of retail, called it "exactly the type of innovative, experience-driven retailer we're bringing to The Oaks."
3. Little Kitchen Academy opened registration for its new Thousand Oaks flagship on August 24. Its first classes start November 1. CEO Brian Curin called The Oaks a "natural fit" for the brand, which teaches children to cook.
4. Pitter Patter Play opened on Wednesday, September 9. Owner Kristina Thomas runs it from a second-floor storefront offering parent-and-child classes, open play, workshops, parties and retail.
5. Newberry Candy is open on Level 1 near Slime Kitchen, and the mall's listing for it starts September 18. It is John Newberry's second shop. He told WhatNow he chose The Oaks for its "high foot traffic," and the store sits between Lovisa and Game Lab, across from Joystick Arcades.
6. Pugilist Gym was listed as "now open" on the mall's website as of late September, in a listing that starts September 24.
7. BiBro is a modern Mediterranean restaurant serving kabobs, bowls, wraps, salads and family meals. It is still marked "Opening Soon" in the food court directory, with no date given.

Four of the seven are built for children or for parents with young children: Slime Kitchen, Pitter Patter Play, Little Kitchen Academy and the candy shop. Two more sell experiences, a collectibles store built around opening blind boxes and a boxing gym. BiBro is the only one on the list that is mainly a place to eat.

The new arrivals also sit close together. Newberry Candy is next to Slime Kitchen, and its neighbors include Game Lab and Joystick Arcades. Taken together, part of Level 1 is becoming a cluster of businesses for families with kids.

What Left in the Same Stretch

Forever 21 closed its Oaks store in spring 2025, when the chain shut its last Ventura County locations. In January 2026, Francesca's announced that every one of its stores would close, including the one at The Oaks. The timing was not yet known. Both closures were chain decisions, and both were apparel stores.

The departure most closely tied to the community was the Paw Works adoption center. It closed permanently at 4 p.m. on July 19, 2026. The organization's operations director cited rising costs and fewer donations, and said mall management had cut the center's rent to help it stay open. Paw Works' rescue facility in Oxnard and its Thousand Oaks veterinary hospital are still open. The mall lists Creole Kings as temporarily closed, with no further details.

Macy's Women's & Kids, JCPenney and Nordstrom all still have store pages on the mall's website. In 2026, the clothing stores that left were the smaller specialty shops, and activity tenants took most of the new space.

Thursdays Already Have a Full Schedule

Carter's quote is about Friday nights. The mall's posted schedule so far fills Thursdays instead. The weekly farmers' market runs every Thursday from January 8 through December 17. The Little Oaks Kids Club has met on Thursdays since its July 31, 2025 kickoff. Two of its free October sessions start at 11 a.m. on a Thursday.

Here is October around the mall:

The Rotary Street Fair is the one Sunday on the list, and it takes place right next to the mall. Organizers expect more than 300 vendors, plus live entertainment, kids' rides and food, all along the stretch of Moorpark Road between Hillcrest and Wilbur. On fair day, that stretch of Moorpark Road is given over to the fair, which affects anyone planning to drive to the mall.

Little Kitchen Academy starts classes November 1, which adds another weekly children's activity to the mall's schedule just before the holidays. As of the end of September, the mall had not posted a specific holiday schedule.

What Hasn't Arrived Yet

The exterior work Stockdale described in 2025 for "next year" has not appeared in any local news coverage found, and no city filing describing facade, parking-lot or entrance work turned up. With three months left in 2026, that phase is still announced but unconfirmed. BiBro still has no opening date. Little Kitchen Academy has a class start date but no announced grand opening.

Nearby, a proposal under city review would put a Yard House, with outdoor dining and a beer garden, at The Collection at Janss near Hillcrest and Wilbur roads, replacing a two-story office building. If it is approved, a restaurant aimed at evening crowds would open near a mall that, so far, has added most of its tenants and events for daytime family visits.

Stockdale's August announcement said more openings and leasing news would come "in the coming months." Whether those leases follow the activity-tenant pattern is the next thing to watch at The Oaks.

Changes at a center like The Oaks shape the way people around Hillcrest Drive spend their weeks, and that local detail is part of how we understand the value of the homes nearby. If you're thinking about your own property and how the area around it is changing, Tina Lucarelli welcomes the conversation. Request a Private Consultation & Complimentary Home Valuation.