General Plan Update Jan 22
Construction could start later this year on a new TJ Maxx apparel store in the Target shopping center on North Dinuba Blvd. So says consultant Jim Perkins of DeKleer & Associates who works with shopping center developer Donahue Schriber.
The developer has filed a preliminary plan for a 22,127 sf store with the City of Visalia this week that would be located in the last in-line pad available in the Orchard Walk East Center anchored by Target,Ross and Vallarta Supermarket.
Realtor Shane Anderson would not discuss the new store but said the Northside shopping center is attractive to many retailers who already have a presence in Visalia on Mooney Bld – on the other side of town – big players like Target and Ross.
TJ Maxx is a female favorite with locals wondering when the first TJ Maxx would come to Tulare County. The same company owns Marshalls with a store on Mooney as well as a chain called Home Goods, rumored to be coming to town as well. The just purchased Sierra Trading Post, an on line retailer as well.
Anderson says the Orchard Walk East center is likely to break ground on a new 10,000 sf strip building on Dinuba Blvd later this year. Nearby,a new strip center has recently been approved on Riggin and Dinuba Blvd as well.
Strong Financials
TJ Maxx has nearly 1000 stores across the US. The off-price retailer offers an array of fashionable, brand-name family apparel, home fashions and other merchandise such as beauty products. T.J. Maxx differentiates itself from Marshalls with an expanded assortment of fine jewelry and accessories, and in some stores, The Runway, a high-end designer department, the company says.
One financial analysis of the company says” through long-standing partnerships with apparel manufacturers like Polo Ralph Lauren RL, TJX is able to buy brand-name goods at rock-bottom prices, passing the savings on to consumers.” The company stock was up from $32 a year ago to around $45 today.
Ignoring The Northside?
While the well known shopping district in Visalia is Mooney Blvd, by 2007 there was enough demand for the developer Donahue Schriber to plan to build both East and West shopping centers along both sides of Dinuba Blvd as the city planned a 70 acre plus sports park nearby. Home Depot was to be the main tenant in the Orchard West complex but the recession prompted the big home improvement store to back out.Donahue Schriber continues to market that 199,000 sf center. Still, the center across the street where TJ Maxx is going appears to be filing up now in 2013 with recession fading.
Ironically, the Northside as a shopping district doesn’t seem to show up on the radar screen for the city’s General Plan Update led by a consultant who largely ignored the prospect of adding more stores in this part of town but proposing to add a large new shopping center on Hwy 99.
The city is expected to take up that plan January 22 at a joint city council / planning commission meeting.
Mooney Filling
Meanwhile it appears Mooney is filling up as well.
Nasdaq-traded Ulta Beauty will open a 10,000 sf store in Visalia’s Packwood Creek Shopping Center this spring, the latest sign that this city’s big retail strip is back.The fast growing chain who opened 49 stores in the latest quarter and enjoyed a 22.5% increase in sales – plans to open 125 more in 2013,including Visalia.
Shopping center owner Patrick Orosco says the addition of the high end store to the center replacing the shuttered Firkin Hound eatery is the latest evidence of retail strength in the market. “We have a pending lease on one smaller space and then we stand at 100% occupancy.” Orosco adds the beauty supply retailer would be the largest in the Visalia marketplace and “will go a long way toward re-enforcing the image of the shopping center as a destination for female shoppers.”
Besides this deal, Orosco is working on a landing a megaplex movie theatre behind Lowes. and Walmart. Also, El Polo Loco appears to be heading for space next to BevMo and InShape Fitness is remodeling the former 24 hr Fitness in the Sequoia Mall.