Firestone Grill coming to Visalia
Costco is the busiest store in Visalia’s along the famed Mooney corridor with a reported $230 million a year in sales. Amazingly, the retailer manages to generate that kind of traffic a country block off Mooney, not visible from the big boulevard.
Now developer The Orozco Group (DBO Development) appears to be having success on their plan to build a 180,000sf shopping center facing Costco on both sides of Cameron Ave. They call the center The Grove at Packwood Creek, just to the east of Lowe’s.
Don’t be fooled by the name, there is hardly a tree in sight at The Grove, not yet.
So far we have seen a new Sportsman’s Warehouse store anchoring the Grove-South proposed center, what is expected to be an additional 80,000sf strip center of retailers and restaurants.
Now there is word the center has landed some tenants that want to locate here including San Luis Obispo’s popular Firestone Grill eatery and a new Lazy Boy Showroom.Both are shown on a site plan being used to market the rest to the property. Several more are expected to be listed in the city’s Site-Plan Review process in the next 30 days says real estate agent Mark Henry, with Colliers.
In addition DBO has filed preliminary a site-plan for a new Valvoline oil change drive-thru next to the Surf Thru Car Wash, both the only entities firmed up in the Grove-North center where Orosco still hopes to land a multiplex movie complex.
Visalians who visit the coast all know SLO’s Downtown Firestone Grill with its heavy duty BBQ beef sandwiches and sports-bar atmosphere. Firestone now has other locations in Cambria, Bakersfield and Fresno.
As for Lazy Boy the franchisee is said to come from the Bay Area who has stores in Fresno, coming now in Visalia and opening in Hanford as well. Earlier this year Hanford businessman Mike Robinson said he had a contract to open a Lazy Boy store in Hanford and was already underway building a 7000sf showroom in Downtown Hanford. Now Robinson says the company has yanked the contract and Robinson, still underway on construction of a new building, isn’t sure who will occupy it. “It wont be Lazy Boy, I don’t want them for my partner” he shrugs.
One more pad is apparently spoken for but does not list a tenant. Heslen Holdings is an LA developer who is buying a 30,000sf pad in The Grove-South.
Shoppers are clearly having no trouble finding Costco since it moved off Mooney. Now others would like some of that action.
