Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall reopens again; construction on new additions nearly done
Open. Closed. Open. Closed. And now open once more.
Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall has opened for interior shopping again after being closed a second time due to rollbacks of coronavirus reopenings in mid-July. The north Modesto mall reopened on Monday, the same day hair salons and barbershops across the state were permitted to reopen for indoor service once more.
Around 70 stores and kiosks within the mall have reopened, out of more than 100 retailers inside the shopping center. Mall management is updating a list of which stores are open for in-store shopping on its website www.shopvintagefairemall.com. The reopening comes as Dick’s Sporting Goods nears completion on its new site in part of the former Sears anchor spot in the mall.
“Opening the retail destination’s doors for shoppers highlights how the community is beginning to rebound after the State of California-ordered secondary shutdown,” said Vintage Faire Mall marketing manager Annie Amies in a written statement about the reopening.
The Modesto mall, like many other businesses across California, has experienced a roller coaster of closings, openings, rollbacks and reopenings due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. The mall was initially closed March 22, after the governor issued a stay-at-home order at the start of the pandemic. Then, in late May, the shopping complex reopened when the state started allowing counties to reopen for retail and other business, only to have to close again seven weeks ago as spikes in infections forced opening roll-backs.
Now, as the state continues to fight the spread of the virus, malls — as well as hair salons — have been given the green light to begin indoor operations again. During the rollback reclosures, Vintage Faire Mall stores with exterior entrances and its restaurants were allowed to continue operating. Most of the major anchors, including Macy’s and J.C. Penney, had remained open, and offered curbside pickup.
Still, as the rest of the interior retailers are now allowed to reopen again, the mall continues to have reduced hours. The shopping center is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Per the new state guidance, inside capacity must be kept at 25% and common areas and food courts must remain closed.
Amies said the center has reopened with “significantly enhanced cleaning and sanitizing protocols” that include focusing on frequent touchpoints which will be cleaned with electrostatic disinfectant sprayers. The mall is also using MERV-13 rated filters in its heating and cooling system, the same filters used in some general hospital settings. Signs have been posted to inform customers to wear masks and maintain social distance.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dave & Buster’s construction continues
As the mall reopens for business, work on the businesses moving into the former Sears anchor site on the eastern edge of the complex continues. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Dave & Buster’s are coming to the two-story 150,000-square-foot space, with Dick’s taking up the ground floor and Dave & Buster’s taking over its top floor.
Last week, the sign for Dick’s Sporting Goods was installed on the building. A spokeswoman for the company, which has had a store in Modesto in a standalone site on the Vintage Faire complex since 2011, said the new, larger location should open this fall. Listings for retail sales positions are up at the company website already, at www.dickssportinggoods.jobs.
Dave & Busters, a national chain of entertainment centers with a sports bar atmosphere that includes arcade and other games, closed all of its locations and halted new construction work on new sites in late March. Since then the chain has reopened locations across the country, but not yet in California. But work has started again on the space at the mall, including its exterior cladding. The location would be the chain’s first in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. The company’s closest current locations are in Roseville, Milpitas and Fresno.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 2:00 PM.
