What’s filling the old Forever 21 space. How’s Dave & Buster’s going at Modesto mall?
A year after Forever 21 announced it was closing its high-profile anchor spot at Vintage Faire Mall, the Modesto shopping center has found its replacement.
Furniture City, a large home furnishings company based out of Fresno, has taken over the two-story space which actually has three floors — but only two actively used as retail showrooms. The store is set to open Thanksgiving week, according to company representatives.
Furniture City has existing locations in Fresno, Bakersfield, El Paso, Texas, and two in Albuquerque, N.M. The new Modesto site will use both floors, and fill the massive 154,500-square-foot anchor spot just off of Center Court in the mall.
Forever 21 closed at the end of 2019, as part of the fast-fashion retailer’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. Before that the space was the home to the now defunct department store Gottschalks. Forever 21 moved quickly into the former Gottschalks space, just four weeks after it closed in mid-July 2009.
The clothing retailer spent 10 years in the prominent Sisk Road-facing location, before closing. Its replacement took considerably longer to emerge, by about a year. Furniture City will be only the fourth tenant for the three-story anchor. Weinstock’s department store filled the space when the mall first opened in 1977.
Modesto mall fills its anchor spaces
Now, the northwest Modesto shopping center has all of its major anchor spaces filled again. Original anchors J.C. Penney and Macy’s are still in the mall, and the remaining open anchor space on the complex’s east end should be filled soon. That site, the former Sears location, has been under construction throughout the year. The two-story 150,000-square-foot space is being split into a Dick’s Sporting Goods on the ground floor and Dave & Buster’s entertainment center on the upper floor.
The Dick’s opened in its new location mid-October, moving from a smaller standalone site in the Vintage Faire complex on Dale Road.
Work continues on the Dave & Buster’s, which has yet to announce any opening date or release information about its planned Modesto location. Building was paused on the project in April, near the start of the pandemic as the extent of the economic impact of the shelter-in-place and shutdown orders to curb the spread of the virus became more widely felt.
Dave & Buster’s, which had all its locations closed nationwide at first, has since reopened properties across the country. But the closest California locations, in Fresno, Milpitas and Roseville, all remain closed as do its other centers across the state. The company reported in its October investor presentation that it was able to negotiate rent deferral on 125 of its 137 properties, helping it stay afloat.
The array of new mall tenants is encouraging, as is its ability to fill the anchor spaces during unquestionably precarious financial times. New tenant Furniture City appears to have a long history of filling in empty spaces. The business moved into a former Circuit City space in Fresno in 2009, and according to reports from our sister paper The Fresno Bee, they very economically kept the “City” from the original sign and simply replaced the “Circuit” with its own name “Furniture.”
The company is in the process of renovating an old Orchard Supply Hardware site in Fresno as well. A company representative confirmed that the Modesto site should be one of the retailer’s largest, once completed.
Elsewhere around the Business Beat:
If you’re looking for a bite to eat while near Vintage Faire Mall, a new locally owned burger joint is coming to challenge the competition.
Cali Burgers is opening in the former Fosters Freeze space on Pelandale Avenue at the corner of Sisk Road. Now, if you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, isn’t there an In-N-Out in that same complex?” the answer is an emphatic, “Yes!” But owner Tony Algharazi said they plan to distinguish themselves by serving a wide variety of offerings, unlike the cult-favorite West Coast burger chain which has a famously small menu.
Cali Burgers, not to be confused with the international In-N-Out knockoff chain CaliBurger, will serve old-fashioned burgers, salads, sandwiches, deep-fried appetizers, vegetarian options, milkshakes and more. Algharazi’s family has been in the local restaurant business for some 25 years. They currently own Five Star Burgers on Coffee Road, and are partnering with an owner of Sno-White Drive In for the new venture.
Algharazi stressed that Cali Burgers will be completely distinct from Five Star Burgers, with a different menu, atmosphere and taste. He said he hopes to have the restaurant open by the first or second week of December.
“It’s totally different from In-N-Out, there’s no similar old-fashioned burger on this side of town,” he said. “We want this to be something new and hope people will come and try it out for themselves.”
If indoor dining room restrictions are still in place due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Algharazi said the restaurant will open with takeout and delivery through third-party apps. He also plans to add some outdoor dining space.
