I cannot believe that they are closing, I grew up in TO and now live on the East Coast. My mother and I have been listening to the Old Fire scanner chatter and talking about how the foothills would catch on fire in TO often. It always meant dad on the roof with a hose, all of us packed in a car and heading toward malibu and coming back to find the hills all black except for this crop circle-ish band around hilltop feed. I would see that as a kid and know all was well, hilltop was still there so the fire wasn't that bad. My mother went on about how wonderful the owners were and how they provided services to the town above and beyond being a feed store etc.
My mom will come back over tonight but I am not going to tell her about hilltop feed closing. She is old and those are good memories so I will leave them be but I am saddened by the news.
I have been to CA twice in the last 15yrs and just could not bring myself to drive into TO (I guess where I lived is "old TO"). I want to remember oakdale market, hilltop feed, Jungleland as they were. Thank you for putting out that information.

I grew up on the east coast (New Jersey) and now live in Thousand Oaks. Such is life.

I won't tell if you really don't want to know but I did some research on Oakdale Market and most people still know something about Jungleland (it comes up from time to time).

Growing up a few minutes walk from Hilltop Feed gave me a chance to visit the place often as a kid. I think it was the smell of the place I remember most. It could only be described as "rustic" with its bins of chicken feed, leather accessories, and old wooden floors. All that old Thousand Oaks represented with its simplicity and beauty was at Hilltop Feed. I suppose growth in a community is inevitable but I can't help but feel a pang of loss and irritation everytime I go back to visit T.O. (I live In Holland now) and see more once open spaces now developed with concrete structures.

I understand your frustration Rob.

I've gone through the transition phase in other places, making the signs more obvious. Slowly but surely, T.O. (and Simi) are morphing into the west end of the San Fernando Valley, although we're growing the number of businesses in Newbury Park (which is good for the tax base).

The redevelopment in that portion of the old town is part of the cities commitment to lower income housing. Sort of. Town homes, condos and apartments are replacing single family homes or unused land.

Do you by any chance know Jim Widick or Jack Henry? I believe Jim's dad has passed on, but Jack Henry is still hanging around making trouble.

i have lived in old agoura my whole life and losing hilltop feed so ther can be more condos is bad my horse wont eat sub-standard 500,000 production low income housing, im so stessed about it im going to look for parties at jungleland on friday nite, then drink beer on the sidewalk in front of the yukon bell watching the parade go down t.o. blvd.

I grew up in T.O, and left when I was 17.
My brothers still live in the area, but I'm on the East coast now. I've been back, but it really bothers me. My Dad was a lion trainer at Jungleland. After it was closed down, my brothers would skateboard there.--They were pretty good. I used to ride my bike everywhere...Oakdale Mkt., Lake Sherwood, you name it. I can't believe that people allowed the Gov't to build OVER Jungeland. I think it will be something they will regret later, if not already. How incredibly sad. Did you know that the first female Lion trainer worked there?? Who cares that Jane Russell's son got bit...he probably was somewhere he shouldn't have been!! Supposedly, this was part of the reason it closed. Either way, I think about all this and will never be able to forget that it is all gone.

I grew up in TO, and as a kid, made the weekly trip to Hilltop Feed for horse supplies - I moved away 12 years ago, and now have moved back and was so sad to see it gone. Now, looking for a place to find horse supplies is a challenge. Hilltop feed was IT. Now there's nothing. How sad. Just another sign that the city is moving in, and the animals are moving out. :(

What a trip down memory lane this has been. I lived in TO until I was 20 (from age 2) and my brother an I used to go to hilltop feed to look at the baby chickens. We used to explore the hills above looking for snakes and anything else. I haven’t been there in about 10 years but I see a lot of the old places are gone. I use to live in a house just through a vacant lot behind Oakdale Market. The lot and my old property are filled with housing now.
My friends and I were always playing in Jungle Land. When the pools would fill up after a rainstorm we would get huge pieces of Styrofoam from the Yamaha shop and build rafts.

Good times

I use to ride my horse all over TO tie him up at the oakdale store. I have a picture of the hilltop feed stallion buckaneer and bill
thibaults gelding hot tody at a show behind the feed store. In '61 ,'62' '63 i rode my horse everywhere.lots of people, places, and horses...
elephants, lion,and camels...