Big changes at Fresno’s River Park: New stores, a Starbucks headed for demolition, more

Goodbye, Starbucks. Hello, J. Crew.

Changes are coming to the River Park shopping center and the closure of one coffee shop and the arrival of the clothing store are part of them.

The large shopping center at Blackstone and Nees avenues in Fresno that started when Target first opened in 1995 has evolved over the years. Soon, a flurry of even more changes will bring new stores, a restaurant and entertainment to the center, noted Tracy Kashian, who handles public relations for River Park.

“There’s never an ending point to being done,” she said. “You always have to keep moving forward and giving people what they want.”

To be clear, River Park is losing only one of its two Starbucks. The newly remodeled one with a drive-thru is staying open. The other one near Blackstone is slated for demolition.

And the J. Crew that’s coming is a lower-priced J. Crew Factory.

More clothing stores are coming also, including a plus-sized retailer.

The center also said goodbye to a burger restaurant in a prime spot and is planning to bring in a sushi restaurant in its place. The IMAX theater will be home to a new business, too.

In short, there’s a lot going on. Here’s a look at what’s happening.

National stores

J. Crew Factory has signed a lease to open in the former Sur La Table kitchen store space facing Blackstone.

J. Crew used to have a store in Fig Garden Village selling its classic clothing, though it closed in 2019.

A lower-priced version of the store, J. Crew Factory sells similar styles, such as button-up shirts and khaki pants.

Torrid is also moving into River Park. It’s a women’s plus-sized clothing brand carrying sizes 10 through 30 that tends to be more trendy than its competitors.

Local stores

Torrid will move into a space now occupied by locally owned clothing store Pum Bum Society and family-owned JULIA jewelry store.

Those stores are moving in July into what used to be Yoshino, the Japanese restaurant in the main part of the mall. If all goes as planned, Torrid will probably open later this year.

What’s Up Europe is a Visalia wedding dress shop that’s almost ready to open a second location in River Park in part of the former Destination Maternity shop near Macy’s. AT&T will take over the rest of the space.

The store will carry Vera Wang and the Disney collection of bridal gowns. Its grand opening is April 30.

It will join a few other newbies, including Tails, a pet boutique that started in San Luis Obispo near Bubble Gum Alley.

The Fresno store opened late last year in River Park and sells pet supplies and fun items like San Francisco Giants jerseys for dogs. It has a bakery case with treats, including decorated cookies that look good enough for humans to eat.

Nearby, locally owned gift store Zaytoona recently got its permit to do tastings of flavored olive oils and vinegars. The store, which opened last summer, sells bottles of both, along with kitchen items, gardening gifts and more.

Fresno-based Under the Covers, a mattress store, is planning to open a second location this spring next to the Bob’s Discount Furniture building.

What happened to IMAX?

The Regal IMAX theater in River Park used to be in a separate building from the rest of the theater. When the main Regal Cinemas remodeled and reopened last May, the IMAX experience was moved into the main theater.

The former IMAX was sitting empty, but Kids Empire has signed a lease to take over the spot.

It’s a children’s indoor playground with a multi-level maze that kids can climb through.

If it’s anything like other Kids Empire locations in Bakersfield or around the country, it will have huge slides, a dance floor, a soccer arena, a snack bar and child-friendly go-kart-style motorcycles.

“It’s just a big place to have a birthday party or spend some time,” Kashian said.

The exterior of the building has a large, vertical architectural feature designed to mimic an old-fashioned theater. River Park is hoping to keep that, and replace the neon “Edwards” letters with the words “River Park.”

Restaurants

Brooks Burgers, which used to be on the same site as The Hangar, has closed.

Although plenty of burger places were interested in the spot, River Park is close to signing a deal for a locally owned sushi restaurant.

“One of the things we’re missing is sushi,” said Kashian, noting that the center hasn’t had sushi since the owner of Yoshino decided not to renew her lease after her husband died.

Starbucks

River Park was once home to three Starbucks coffee shops: One close to Blackstone near Panera Bread, another next to Uncle Harry’s, and the one inside Target.

The one near Uncle Harry’s shut down during the pandemic. After a remodeling and the addition of a drive-thru, it reopened in January.

The other stand-alone Starbucks near Blackstone has since closed.

That building, which was home to the coffee shop and the AT&T store that’s moving, is slated to be demolished. A new building for a new renter will be built in its place.

“We don’t have anything signed, but we do have interest from a jewelry store,” Kashian said.

Macaroni Grill spot

The corner of Blackstone and El Paso avenues has been empty since Macaroni Grill was torn down in 2021.

Nike has since signed a lease to open a large store on the site.

The very first stages of work on the store started in recent days as heavy equipment started moving dirt.

Nike did not return a message seeking comment about the details of the store, though the shopping center is expected to turn over the building to Nike by the end of the year. It would likely open next year after Nike finishes the interior.

It will not be an outlet store. It will sell Nike sneakers, but other items, too. Permit applications filed with the City of Fresno refer to it as a 14,000-square-foot athletic department store.

Art, Tagua, more

A smattering of other changes are happening in the center, including a Tesla charging station going in near Bob’s and new trees being planted around the center.

River Park’s Art Groove, the art gallery run by the shopping center — which hosts senior paint nights and other activities — is moving near the parking garage. It will have a grand opening the evening of April 20.

And Tagua, the store selling fair trade items, is moving closer to the heart of the center.

The main section of the mall will get remodeled with new fountains and seating areas.

And plans call for more events, like the monthly FoodieLiscious, a Fresno Street Eats all-day event featuring food trucks, music, pop-up vendors and stores and restaurants. The first one of those happens Saturday, April 29.