Bill Cohen heads down the Valley’s main thoroughfare and sees more empty storefronts than ever.

“It’s not good,” said Cohen, president of the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce. “All you’ve got to do is walk up and down Ventura Boulevard. You’ll see more `For Lease’ signs than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.”

A year into the recession, business leaders say 2009 could be especially tough for mom-and-pop businesses, with thousands of shops expected to shut their doors.

“I would not be surprised to see 1,000 to 2,000 businesses close in the San Fernando Valley in 2009, mom-and-pops to home-based businesses,” said Roberto Barragan, president of the Valley Economic Development Center, which offers loans and consulting assistance to businesses. “It is the worst business climate I have seen, except for the first year after the (January 1994) Northridge Earthquake.”

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