When Long’s Drugs took over the location at the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura a few years ago, it seemed hopeful that something nice would adorn one of the Valley’s most prominent corners.

Alas, it was not to be. Long’s is one of the ugliest stores around. The interior could not legally be photographed for this article, but it embodies the worst aspects of 1960’s fluorescent-lit banality. The space is a cluttered and junky collection of cheap wines, macaroni and cheese displays, canned olives and tuna fish pyramids, aisles of plastic chairs, t-shirts, baseball caps, and generic cleaning products. Many of the standard products—shampoos, deodorants and painkillers—are way overpriced.

Lost was a great opportunity to place glass windows and an attractive retail display along Ventura. This is the gateway to Studio City and it has geographic prestige. But Long’s has no sense of its place on Ventura.

The windows are covered with beige plastic, and planters hide litter and the scent of urine near a littered bus stop. An aesthetically (and business minded) company might have opened up the store with a lunch or ice cream counter where customers could see Ventura Boulevard while seated at lunch. Pedestrians would have a view inside Longs, increasing business and a connection to Studio City.

The red plastic exterior sign is appalling, with the little “Long’s Drugs” lost on the trapezoidal shaped ,vertical rooftop bisect. The building, which curves aerodynamically along the corner, was meant to signify the presence of an important retailer. But the peeling paint, garbage and helter-skelter disarray inside show that Long’s could care less.

Is it a small matter to pick on Long’s? I don’t think so. These retail stores, which come into our communities and create an ugly and ill planned presence, are not worthy of protection. They merely take money from us without contributing to the beauty or enjoyment of Los Angeles.

What would Santa Barbara do with a place like Long’s?