Category: Central Valley

The vacant Dodge dealership on Blackstone in Tulare has a new tenant- tractor dealer Krone North America.

“Today is our first day” says local parts manager Mike Moore. Moore explains Tulare will be the south Valley headquarters for Krone with a second store in Turlock to cover the north Valley.”We will take over sales of our farm equipment from Pioneer” who will longer sell the product at their Valley locations. This will be a company store.

Krone has leased the 15,000sf  commercial building on 5.6 acres at 1950 S. Blackstone which enjoys freeway 99 frontage.The Dodge dealer closed here in 2010 and the former  property owner let it go to the bank.But it was recently purchased for a reported $1.25 million in March and now leased.

Lampe Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Tulare decided to  acquire the Surroz Dodge Chrysler Jeep dealership in Visalia and moved operations from Tulare to Visalia in 2010.

The German farm equipment manufacturer  first opened their offices in the United States in 1973.  They were very successful in selling their large machinery because it was well suited for the large farms of the Mid-West. Over the years, Krone North America has grown to be the largest single export market for Krone machinery and has grown to over 350 dealerships.  There are now offices in Memphis, TN and Reno, NV and warehouses in Memphis, Reno, Ontario, and Quebec.

The Krone company makes a full line of harvesters, choppers and hay making equipment.

ICE Builders of Ventura and others are accepting bids for a new 40,000 sf “Neighborhood Walmart Grocery Store” at Demaree and Houston in Visalia. The bids are due June 25 on the $4 million project.  The bidding instructions available at the Tulare/Kings Builders Exchange indicate work will start right away and all work needs to be completed December 10.

Walmart spokesperson Delia Garcia said she could not comment on the news but “you should stay tuned over the next week or two” indicating an announcement is pending.The proposed store even carries its official Walmart store number#5635-00. But Walmart likes to do its new store development under the radar, the likely reason why the company has filed for its building permit and submitted store plans with the city without disclosing who they are.

The project has been rumored for many months but this week city building official Greg Adams says “the permit is very close to being issued” and that the plans carry the name WD Partners.WD Partners works with Walmart on projects.

“It’s pretty unusual the plans don’t show who they are” offers Adams.

Third Walmart In Visalia

This would be the first smaller-format Walmart grocery store built in the South Valley and the third in Visalia that will now sell groceries.
That’s because before this year the only Walmart location in town on Noble did not sell groceries although there are plans to expand the space to sell groceries that have been filed. In May, Walmart opened a second store in Visalia on south Mooney in the former Costco location that is “superstore” – selling general merchandise as well as a full line of groceries.

The east Visalia Noble Ave Walmart expansion is being litigated in Tulare County Superior Court right now but eventually the court is expected to allow Walmart to expand this store – becoming the second  Walmart in town Visalia to sell groceries.

Now with a smaller format store to open north of 198 around the end of year – that makes it three Walmart outlets that will sell groceries in Visalia, fairly well covering the town, geographically.

To date, Visalia’s supermarket scene has been dominated by Modesto- based Save Mart, a union store, with five locations in town including their warehouse store. Unlike most cities, Visalia does not have a the complement of national chains like Von’s, Albertson’s or Ralph’s. The rest of the competition here have only single locations in town.

Arguably, the surge by Walmart into groceries in Visalia hurts Save Mart the most,already struggling this summer with their union contract and a threat of a strike.

Both Save Mart and the grocery union have made it no secret they consider the entrance of nonunion Walmart into their turf as a big problem.It was Save Mart employees that spoke against the expansion of the Noble store at the Visalia public hearing approved by the city  council and now subject of a lawsuit by a group that does not name who they are.

Save Mart has just closed a store in Elk Grove in recent days citing the economy and tough competition. Perhaps not by coincident Walmart is expected to open a ‘Neighborhood’ store in the same town later this year.

Exeter Bakery To Open This Summer

They have owned the former Dixie Yarns manufacturing plant in Exeter since 1992 but have waited 20 years to make their own products here. No longer spinning any yarn, to figure out what’s cooking – soon all you will have to do is follow your nose.

We are talking about national sweet roll baker Svenhard’s Swedish Bakery who now says they will begin hiring by July and test baking by late August preparing for a single line of production to begin by September/October in Exeter.

The recession has slowed Svenhard’s plans. “It has taken a little longer than we thought to begin operations in this tough financial market. We had some lender problems but that’s all behind us now” says the company’s chief operating officer David Kunkel.

Kunkel says the first line to begin production will be a 16 and 32 roll variety pack sent daily to over 600 Sam’s Club locations around the nation and baked right here. Varieties will range from big packages of their famous bear claws, to raisin snails to cinnamon rolls.

“We will do all our bulk item baking and distribution from Exeter” says Kunkel, adding that this first phase will require 40 new employees in addition to the 20 people working there now. The numbers would increase to about 120 more by this time next year when all bulk lines will be in production.

The sprawling 40 acre property on Industrial Ave has not registered much on the local radar screen for most of two decades because the company has delayed any plan to relocate all operations from their Oakland facility, their only bakery.

But several years ago the concept changed to maintain two plants in California – one for single baked items, Oakland and the new bulk item plant in Exeter. They began talking to the city and other agencies about permits to move forward.

Kunkel says an extensive remodel of the manufacturing area has been underway for the past year, a new roof as well as electrical and plumbing work along with the addition of automated manufacturing equipment, mixers and packaging machines. An oven was installed some time ago.

Kunkel himself says he will have an office in Exeter and will hire a plant manager soon to oversee operations. ”I love Exeter and look forward to working there“ says Kunkel, noting Svenhard’s family members still live in the area and Kunkel’s nephew John Kunkel was formerly the police chief in town.

“The state EDD will handle all our hiring” says Kunkel suggesting people interested in jobs contact EDD by the end of June.

Look for a formal ribbon cutting in September he adds.