WALNUT CREEK, CA: Leslie’s Pool Supplies is closing its Walnut Creek store. For a town that treats a backyard pool like a birthright, that is one more piece of the summer routine walking out the door.
The Phoenix-based chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month. It plans to close 76 stores nationwide, including eight in the Bay Area, according to Patch.
Walnut Creek is on the list.
If you have spent this week hauling chlorine tabs and a replacement filter out to the car, you know the store. It is the specialty shop you hit when the water turns cloudy, and the person behind the counter tells you exactly what you got wrong.
That counter is going away, and the timing is almost funny.
The first week of October brought near-record heat across the East Bay. Walnut Creek pushed into the high 90s. The Bay Area Air District called a Spare the Air alert as the hot, still air parked over the region.
That is peak pool weather. It is also the exact week you want a store you can walk into when the water turns green.
What is closing, and where
Court filings lay out the Bay Area stores headed for closure: Concord, Fremont, Mountain View, Novato, Pittsburg, San Jose, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek. Across California, 26 stores are closing. Nationwide, the number is 76.
The chain still runs more than 900 locations in 38 states, so this is a trim, not a shutdown. Leslie’s has not said exactly when the Walnut Creek doors close.
A specialty pool store is not the same as a hardware aisle. It carries parts for specific pumps and filters, and the staff can usually tell a cloudy pool from an algae bloom on sight.
The closures at a glance
Nationwide: 76 stores
California: 26 stores
Bay Area: 8, including Walnut Creek
Still operating: more than 900 stores in 38 states
Why the chain is pulling back
The filing numbers explain the retreat better than any press release. Leslie’s entered bankruptcy with $722 million in assets against $1.2 billion in liabilities, the Orange County Register reported.
Its restructuring deal aims to cut roughly $685 million from that debt load, close to 90 percent of it. The company says it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in early 2027.
The sales problem is plainer still.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Stores closing nationwide | 76 |
| Stores closing in California | 26 |
| Assets at filing | $722 million |
| Liabilities at filing | $1.2 billion |
| Debt to be reduced | about $685 million |
| Sales, nine months to July 4 | $790 million, down 7.3 percent |
Over the nine months ending July 4, the company brought in $790 million in sales, down 7.3 percent from nearly $853 million a year earlier. Its net loss widened to $87.7 million from $74.2 million.
None of this is a sudden collapse. Phil Leslie Jr. founded the company as Leslie’s Poolmart in North Hollywood in 1963. It grew into a national brand over six decades, passing between private and public owners along the way.
Chapter 11 is a reorganization, not a liquidation. Leslie’s keeps running while it works through the debt, which is why the surviving stores stay open and the loyalty program still honors your points.
Leslie’s is here to stay.
Jason McDonell, chief executive of Leslie’s
That is the line from chief executive Jason McDonell, and he may well be right about the company. The Walnut Creek store is a different question. It sits on the closure list regardless.
Why pool retail is a hard business
Pool retail is a narrow business. Specialty shops live on a small market of pool owners who need chemicals, parts, and test kits.
They compete with the pool aisle at the big-box stores down the road. When sales slip, the specialty counter is the first thing to go.
What it means in Walnut Creek
This is the second national chain to pull out of Walnut Creek in a matter of weeks. Petco closed its Ygnacio Valley Road store in September, ending nearly a decade on that corner next to the Safeway.
Two closures do not make a trend. They do make a pattern worth watching in a town that keeps adding homes while its retail footprint keeps shifting underneath it.
Retail churn is normal. Tenants leave, tenants arrive. A homegrown brand like VICI can open on North Main in the same season a national chain quietly hands back its keys.
What is easy to forget is how fast the ground moves under a strip mall. A corner that has held a familiar sign for years can empty out in a single lease cycle. The next tenant arrives with a different name on the door.
For pool owners, though, the change is practical rather than emotional. The water still needs balancing, and the nearest Leslie’s will soon be a longer drive.
If your pool store is closing
- Gift cards and loyalty perks still work. Leslie’s says it will keep honoring them through the bankruptcy.
- Stock up before it matters. Chlorine, shock, and test strips are the items people wish they had bought a month earlier, not on the first hot weekend.
- Ask about service plans. If you have an open repair or maintenance appointment, confirm where it lands before the store goes quiet.
- Online ordering and the chain’s other locations keep running during the process.
What happens next
Leslie’s has not published a closing date for the Walnut Creek location. By the company’s own account, the remaining stores and the online business continue to operate while the case moves through court.
The store leaving does not change the water. It just moves the errand a few more miles down the road.
If history is any guide, the space will not sit idle for long. Walnut Creek retail turns over, and someone usually takes the lease. The open question is whether the next tenant sells pool chemicals or something else entirely.
The bottom line
Leslie’s is closing its Walnut Creek store as part of a Chapter 11 restructuring that cuts 76 locations nationwide and 26 in California. The chain says it is not going out of business and will honor gift cards and loyalty perks. Pool owners who rely on the local counter should plan on a longer drive for supplies.
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