Subscribe Now Mobile Site Place an Ad E-Edition Email Updates Obituaries Classifieds Find a Job Find a Car Real Estate Contact Us

Currently

57°

Clear

FREE ARCHIVE SEARCH

News

CLASSIFIEDS

All Classifieds
Find a Home
Find a Car
Find a Job
Work Here
Find Merchandise
Today’s Print Ads

2 Weeks Free

Free Ad

Place an ad
in print and online, 24/7 for free, select the Clean Sweep option. Unable to submit Real Estate, Services, and Business Investements at this time.

Get a Subscription

Map the Valley

Restaurant Listing
School Listing
Open Houses
Garage Sales

Subscriber/
Reader Services

Subscribe Now
Contact Customer Service

Patience taxed: Centennial Plaza merchants say vacant old Wal-Mart building hurting their businesses

By Seth Meyer
smeyer@HanfordSentinel.com

While the real estate firm that owns the old Wal-Mart building reportedly is in discussion with several potential tenants, existing merchants at the Centennial Plaza on 12th Avenue and Lacey Boulevard said the empty 126,000-square-foot space has hurt their businesses.

Redwood Real Estate Partners hopes to have several new tenants for the building solidified by the end of the year, said local consultant Dick Jacques. Several current merchants said the announcement can't come soon enough.

The building has been empty since Wal-Mart relocated to its Supercenter site farther south on 12th Avenue last year.

"(The empty building) affects a lot," said Larry McLeod, owner of Cartridge World, which opened shortly after Wal-Mart moved. "Last month was my best month, but it didn't break me even."

McLeod estimates that 65 percent of his business depends on foot traffic.

Contreras Fashions is considering shutting its doors, said Jose Contreras, whose brother, Eduardo Contreras, owns the shop.

"When Wal-Mart left, we lost 50 percent of our business," Jose Contreras said.

Bob Rose, owner of the Black Bear Diner, said the restaurant has lost $6,000 per week since Wal-Mart left.

"We will stay open," Rose said. "We feel that if they don't bust up the usable space, and have at least one or two big box stores, we will be OK."

Also, the Subway restaurant currently located at Centennial Plaza is planning to move to the Target Shopping Center, possibly in the next month, said manager Rhonda Garcia.

Before Wal-Mart could move, the city stipulated that there had to be another business in line to buy the building. That buyer was Santa Monica-based NetCo.

"The buyer bought it, but they never leased it or brought forth any real plans," said Cathy Cain, a senior planner with the city. "We're anticipating someone might be in soon. It has sold to another buyer, they are marketing it, and they have been pretty active in asking us about potential uses."

Redwood Real Estate bought the building from NetCo in June. They are based in Denver, Colo., but maintain an office in California.

Last month, Redwood announced the building would be given a complete facelift and divided into several smaller parcels, but a time frame nor a dollar amount was not released.

Email this story

Print this story

POST A COMMENT

Hanfordsentinel.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed, particularly if they are posted after normal office hours.

We reserve the right to remove comments in total that violate our code of conduct. If you want to report a violation, please e-mail editor@HanfordSentinel.com

For more information please read our Terms of use, and Rules of the Road.

Please log in to post comments

*Member ID:
*Password:
	Forgot Your Password?

If you don't have an account you can create one for free by clicking the link below.
CREATE ACCOUNT

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Hanford Sentinel

What a shame wrote on Nov 16, 2007 12:18 PM:

" It was predicted this would happen - there's actual historic information available anywhere a walmart has moved, but of course it wasn't THAT important. I feel for every business located in that shopping center... "

Beautiful Hanford wrote on Nov 16, 2007 1:41 PM:

" Solid plans should have been required before moving or approving the new Wal-mart. I was against the new Wal-mart & will not step foot into that store. Hanford is left with another ugly empty building. (Monte Mart) Dick Jacques is all talk...no action. "

Just admit the food is not that good...and so goes the business wrote on Nov 16, 2007 8:32 PM:

" Black Bear needs to bring their comfort food quality back to what the original standards were, when they first opened the establishment. The receipes need real food products instead of the lower slashfood standard long shelf-life ingrediants high in sugar, high in salt meat/soy line products from Smart&Final or other distributors of bio-generated food products. Fresher produce and REAL better cuts of meats could make such a diffrence to the restuarants return customers. YOUR REALLY CAN TASTE THE DIFFERENCE IN FAKE FOOD. We stopped going along time ago to the Black Bear after they lowered their standards and chose to stop using better quality and fresher food products, I believe that occurred when the original corporate company supervisors pulled out of the overseeing of the day to day operation. Oh well can't blame WAL-Mart for your mistakes. "

Yeah right wrote on Nov 16, 2007 9:49 PM:

" Point the finger at Wal Mart again... Hanford's problems are always do to Wal Mart... how about poor city management... ah, there's an idea. For those that "say" they don't shop there, I'm sure I'll see you there next week. Fact is, Wal Mart did not hurt the "small mom & pop" stores downtown, not one little bit. Wal Mart left Centennial Plaza almost two years ago. And just now this businesses are hurting. WHATEVER! This is a joke, Anti Wal Mart at it again! Get real people stop blaming Wal Mart for your problems. "

Clean Things Up! wrote on Nov 16, 2007 11:45 PM:

" The shops in that area don't look as well maintained and modern. The FoodCo is always dirty, the parking lot is dirty, etc. The employees there are very nice, but it is just not clean. The Dollar Tree has things on the floor in every isle, the merchandise on the shelf is either missing or stacked in hap hazard way. If you do buy anything, there is usually only one cashier and a LONG line. So there is a lot the businesses could do to attract customers that has nothing to do with a large anchor tenant. People don't want to go there because it is so run down. "

Run down because they follow conglomerate real-estate practices to develop... wrote on Nov 17, 2007 12:06 PM:

" and cater to the illegal immigrant population. This malls is the reflection of the mentality of all owners to not maintain the run-down mini-lot-store fronts...reduce the property value in order to bring in a higher concentration of low-budget shoppers and low-income/village style traffic...barrio mercados draw in from all areas LARGE numbers of a certain segement of the population...just like what has already happened to Denver, Las Vegas, Oakland and to the detriment of a majority of wide parts of east L.A....concentrated poverty-gehetto neighborhoods and the business establishments who gain...when property is cheap. To up-grade that small mall will have to be a concentrated effort to upgrade the quality of the businesses looking to situate themselves to that market and many DO NOT REALLY want to cater to van-loads of immigrant-illegals or the average welfare receipiant..even though their money spends just as well....the clientel matters to businesses interested in a piece of real-estate. "

ALEJANDRO wrote on Nov 17, 2007 2:46 PM:

" ...as if the QUALITY of the customers don't reflect upon the businesses at all? If the customers' don't care, why should the proprietors? Look at one store which will remain nameless: at any given day you find scummy people buying automotive oil, filters, or antifreeze - and then proceed to do a minor tune-up and an oil change right in the parking lot. Dump the oil and grease and empty containers on the tarmac! Also, check out the dirty, crowded strip mall atmosphere at the west end on Lacey Blvd. What does this say exactly, friends? "

Regardless wrote on Nov 17, 2007 2:59 PM:

" It doesn't matter that the anchor tenant was a wal mart or not, it just matters that there is no anchor tenant. That is why anchor is the term that is used. The anchor tenant provides the draw to a center and the additional shops reap the benefit of the foot traffic. Yeah is right when you talk about poor city management. Why let the anchor move across the street when there was plenty of room to enlarge the anchor at the existing site? Why does the city keep building retail when we can't even fill the existing empty stores and pads in town. Downtown has less and less retail as it migrates north. Schools and offices that don't create foot traffic are gradually replacing retail stores downtown. The council puts a happy face on the problem as they appoint rather than elect their Main Street Hanford board. "

foxylady wrote on Nov 17, 2007 9:53 PM:

" why blame walmart do something may open another business on that old building im just suggesting maybe another kmart well thats still going cause we always go at lemoore just to get something in kmart and guess what only kmart has the lay-away not even wal mart they stop doing lay away in wal mart now so maybe they need to put a kmart styore in old building . "

No, point the finger at the Undocumented wrote on Nov 17, 2007 10:31 PM:

" To run down, you seem to be in a scapegoat mode against the undocumented for every problem in America. Funny how Subway and Black Bear Diner give rise to the barrio Marketa mentality. Yes, I see them at every Mercado I've ever been to south of the border. Money is green and if you want to spend it, I've got something to sell you. Its the American way, capitalism at its best. What do you have to say to the "white" shoppers that I see buying at the Mercado? "

Emty Stores wrote on Nov 18, 2007 12:46 PM:

" How long has the old SEARS building sittting empty? Alot longer than the WalMart. "

Other Aspects wrote on Nov 18, 2007 4:42 PM:

" Migrants want clean stores, a good selection of merchandise, etc. GO in to the Wal Mart in Dinuba, then go in to the one in Hanford. What a difference! Dinuba's is clean, well maintained, no dirty diapers in the parking lot. There are decent shopping carts that do not rattle, you can actually find a parking spot that does not have two shopping carts in it. There is something about Hanford and its shopping, that the managements do not have a high standard of cleanliness, good selection, etc. So this corner "mall" with it's Joann's that is almost empty and has poor selection, plus all the things that were posted earlier-It does not matter if they put a Macy's in the old Wal Mart building- if they do not put in managers that have pride in their retail, it will do no good. Across the street at Home Depot- what a sight that was. Just recently with some new management it is a little cleaner and better organzied. It has a LONG way to go before it could compete with the new Lowes. Forget about blaming the City and the Realtor, look to the stores themselves. Don't shop there! "

JaneDoe wrote on Nov 19, 2007 1:34 AM:

" Wal-Mart is EVIL and I refuse to shop there. In my opinion the money I might save by shopping at Wal-Mart, isn't worth the price society pays. For an eye opener watch " Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices". We all knew this was going to happen. I drove by the old Wal-Mart a few weeks ago, and there was all kinds of graffiti and trash by the building. I won't shop in that complex because it looks dumpy. "

To "Other Aspects" wrote on Nov 19, 2007 1:38 AM:

" Why are speaking to "Migrants" only? I find that annoying. Don't we all want to shop somewhere clean? "

Alan G. wrote on Nov 19, 2007 12:11 PM:

" There will NEVER be an anchor store in the old WalMart building. The sale of the property specifically included language that prevents any one single business that would compete with WalMart's interests. No grocery store or large retail KMART-type business can EVER go in there. Anything less than those types of business could not be considered an anchor and so there will never be a major draw on that corner. Try to think of any example where a property of that size has been converted to smaller businesses and been successful. You probably won't because there are very few examples. The closest I've ever seen is an indoor swap meet (BLECH!) which is great if someone wants to compete with WalMart for the most dirty diapers discarded in a parking lot. "

Honest mistake wrote on Nov 19, 2007 12:59 PM:

" Alan, there was no such stipulation. Wal Mart never owned this particular Hanford property, they just leased. Any business except a grocery store can go in there. The reason why a grocery store can't go in is because Foods Co, stipulates that as a clause in their lease. You're rright about it never being a major draw though unless the entire center is remodeled to look as new and fresh as the centers across the street. Many communities have an ordinance that prohibits abandoning a center unless a new tenant is found before departure. If not the center must be demolished so it can be redeveloped properly. "

Landman wrote on Nov 19, 2007 4:31 PM:

" The city planning comminson and city officials are selling out to large developers rather than trying to keep the city looking good and keeping it clean. "

Alan G. wrote on Nov 19, 2007 4:38 PM:

" Sorry "Honest Mistake", if I was wrong then it was genuinely an honest mistake. I was under the impression that the stipulations of the sale of the old WalMart building were such that no single entity that could compete with WalMart's grocery business could move into that property? I will stipulate that my source may have been wrong or I may have misunderstood. The only anchor business that could fill that kind of square footage and doesn't already exist in town, would either be a Super Kmart or a grocery store. This would also eliminate Costco because they sell groceries. What does that leave? Redeveloping that space to accommodate several smaller stores is going to be the death of that center and relegate it to being the bargain center with .99cent stores, beauty supply stores and other discount stores with bad merchandising. Any suggestions as to what could go in there? "

Hanford NOW wrote on Nov 19, 2007 4:51 PM:

" Walmart did own the building on 12th and Lacey. The potential blight the empty building has caused was predicted by our organization at the City of Hanford public hearing for the new Walmart super center. Dick Jacques and others claimed this point was baseless since the building was in escrow. The fact is that the building is not in the enterprise zone. These zones provide huge tax breaks for the companies who build new businesses in them. It is the REAL reason Walmart moved across the street. As a result of this move the new Walmart will get millions of dollars in tax breaks over their first 5 years. The lack of enterprise zone designation means that the old Walmart building is far less attractive to retailers and is one of the reasons it remains empty. "

I Nominate wrote on Nov 19, 2007 9:12 PM:

" Alan you are right in your first blog. Call Dick and try to lease the whole building...It will not happen. Walmart did buy the building right before they announced the supercenter. They have since sold the property. Prior to WALMART BUYING THE BUILDING THEY LEASED IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS.THIS IS ALL PUBLIC RECORDS. "

those of you complaining should care more wrote on Nov 19, 2007 10:23 PM:

" than just complaining on line. Where is your sense of civic pride?? in almost any city in the US, there are laws and ordinances that prohibit people from dumping trash and/or working on your car in parking lots that are meant for public use. So if you see someone doing something illegal, call the cops, record them, take pictures, SOMETHING!!! I dislike people that can only bellyache. They use the undocumented for EVERY problem in the US today. Then you have another guy who sees people doing tune ups and dumping used OIL in the parking lot (isn't that prohibited by some kind of Federal law) and what does HE do?? He poses a question to US. "What does this say exactly, friends." Yes Biff, what does that say???!!! "

Tear it Down wrote on Nov 20, 2007 11:43 AM:

" Tear the old WalMart down. Redevelop that corner. "

First wrote on Nov 20, 2007 4:45 PM:

" Dinuba may have been the first city in the Valley to get a Supercenter, but Hanford is the first city in the Valley to have a long vacant Wal Mart building. Even though they don't own their building anymore, maybe we could ask Wal Mart to place Hanford's empty store on their real estate web site next to all of their other empty buildings. The president of the Chamber of Commerce could send them all of the information. Alan, do you think we could do a reality show something like Home Makeover where we fix up empty buildings in Hanford to make them assets to our once proud city? We could use the visitor agency's firetrucks. I can see it now, "Firetruck driver, MOOOVE THAT FIRETRUCK!" "

Alan G. wrote on Nov 20, 2007 5:29 PM:

" Hey "First", maybe we could revive the TLC series "Town Haul" where Genevieve Gorder and crew roll into town and fix up the old fire station and turn it into a senior drop-in center. The whole town could help fix up a small apartment for one of the town's eccentric characters and turn the old WalMart into a skating rink for the kids. Perhaps Ty Pennington and his off-camera master carpenter could chip in too! We could sex it up a bit by casting the Dahm triplets from "Renovate My Family". Oh wait, the old WalMart building has to be subdivided into three businesses, so they could make a skating rink, meth rehabilitation center and daycare for the teen mothers. Booyah! Hey folks, I'll be here all week! Don't forget to tip the waitresses. "

who is Dick Jacques wrote on Nov 20, 2007 10:47 PM:

" What projects can we credit to Mr Jacques. Is he a guy who can find tenants to lease the Old Walmart building? Is he not partly responsible for this huge mess we are dealing with right now. Wallmart said you can not retrofit a box. Are they not the bigbox king. Maybe we should listen to them ,let another demo the site and redevelop it. Or is the plan to keep that from happening??? Please I am confused about this problem. Does anyone have insight on my questions? "

Yeah right wrote on Nov 20, 2007 11:47 PM:

" Call the cops? Yeah right... like there going to do anything. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, local law enforcement agencies are Lazy and corrupt... that's right LAZY and CORRUPT! There not going to do anything about the trash, litter and graffiti. They don’t even uphold a judges order… please, whatever! How about a Best Buy (ok, Worst Buy), but Hanford City officials need to start doing something about that space. Push toward company's like Circuit City and Best Buy, I think Hanford has enough clothing stores... don't you? Hanford obviously wants to get away from the "small town" look; just look at the development... so why not push for "popular businesses". Get with the program. "

Pride wrote on Nov 21, 2007 10:44 AM:

" I think the people in Hanford need to take a little more pride in their town and stop blaming everyone else. I get really annoyed at the Walmart because of how dirty it is and the carts in the parking lot, and that is not Walmarts fault, That local people too lazy to walk 10 feet to put their cart away, or too lazy to throw items in the trash can. I have been to Walmarts all over the country and I have noticed that the Walmart reflect the towns pride. "

To yeah right wrote on Nov 21, 2007 11:42 AM:

" if you are that negative about YOUR community then I think its time for you to move on. If you don't want to take the time to vote or try to change things within the system, then don't complain. I always want to know about the going ons in my town. There are things I disagree with and things that I think are fine, but I also vote and talk to people about how to change things that I don't think are for the betterment of the community. God doesn't hear those that don't speak. Maybe they are LAZY and CORRUPT because the community LET'S THEM, but remember that's your opinion. "

The City of Hanford and Kings county wrote on Nov 23, 2007 10:46 AM:

" will just have to live with its current leaders and their poor decisions until they elect someone new. Lots could have been required of Wal-Mart - they are a behemoth in the retail world but cities can require some accountability of them. They could have been asked to perform and fill that space prior to opening, especially when it was public record that they didn't own the building until they as a company then decided to open a Super Center. They then bought the building to block potential competition. There's something to be said of that. I am for a free market, but there's something to be said also and acknowledged that a community can require a business to be accountable for their actions. Wal-Mart knew exactly what they were doing. The City Planners and Council only saw $ signs, thanks to Dick and Jan. "

To "TO YEAH RIGHT" wrote on Nov 24, 2007 3:20 AM:

" Funny you don't say... I have moved on, I do not live in Hanford, though I did grow up there, successfully graduated Hanford High, and I have a successful career in the US Army. And like "most" of you, I do care about what happens in Hanford; because, like many, I was raised there. Hanford has its beautiful area's, and its troubled spots (the old Wal Mart center being one of those). Wow... someone assumes I don't vote. Yeah, true I don't vote... in Hanford elections... but prior to my departure from Hanford and Kings Country (which is NOT a bad place to live), I did vote, in every election I could. And not once can I remember a time when the City Council and our other elected official's have did anything superb that stands out. Side note, I vote in every single election that I can, even when my geographical limitations may burden it. I agree with you, it is the community that needs to do something about the corrupt and lazy law enforcement and city government. Bottom line of front, Centennial Plaza is problem. "

HOT TOPICS

MORE LOCAL NEWS

Lemoore:

Selma:

Kingsburg:

PHOTO GALLERIES

More Photos

Sentinel Photos (134) Albums

: Hanford Luminaria; Friday, November, 20 2009; (6) Photos

: Hanford High vs Dinuba Waterpolo Final; Wednesday, November, 18 2009; (13) Photos

: Fire on Hawk Street; Wednesday, November, 18 2009; (11) Photos

Reader Submitted (7) Albums

: Vintage Hanford; Monday, December, 15 2008; (1) Photos

: Vacation Photos; Thursday, November, 20 2008; (37) Photos

: Events; Thursday, November, 20 2008; (38) Photos

EMAIL UPDATES

Sign up today to get all your local headlines delivered to your home or work e-mail address, so you don't miss the latest in breaking and local news.

E-Mail:
Daily News Updates
Breaking News Alerts