Walmart Appears Headed for S. Mooney

Visalia - Sources tell the Valley Voice that Walmart has purchased the old Costco building at 3750 South Mooney Blvd. However, the giant retailer's plans to also purchase the adjacent old HomeBase store have not materialized.

While no one on record would confirm the purchase, Commercial Retail Associations, the broker that is handling the old Costco Building, has on its website “contract pending” for that property.

It has been rumored for some time that Walmart was eyeing the South Mooney site. Speculation was it wanted both large vacant box stores in order to put a Supercenter at that location, but it appears it is only purchasing the 116,000 s.f. Costco building.

At that size, Walmart is somewhat limited in putting in anything more than a standard Walmart. The size of an average store is 108,000 square feet. Each store employs about 225 associates. Supercenters average 185,000 square feet and employ about 350 or more associates. There are 2,772 Supercenters nationwide.

Clyde Barbeau, who is one of the owners of the HomeBase building along with Save Mart owner Bob Piccinini, said no deal has been reached on the sale of the HomeBase building. He was not aware that the Costco store had been sold.

“We have absolutely zero,” he said when asked if they have sold the building. He said they get calls, but no offers on the 104,000 s.f. empty building.

He said they had had talks with Walmart, but no deal. He said rumors that Piccinini would not sell to Walmart because of the direct competition it would bring to Save Mart are not correct.

“Mr. Piccinini is a businessman and he would consider some price. It's a matter of economics. At some price, everything is for sale,” said Barbeau. “We're waiting for the offer.”

The idea that Walmart was considering a South Mooney site surfaced last year when a representative of several grocery store owners asked the city council to limit the size of any new supermarkets in town. The city council did not agree.

Jim Watt, a consultant, said at that time that the city was already overbuilt with supermarkets and that allowing more – especially large ones – would run some of the existing stores out of business. In the past couple of years two markets have closed, including Von's on Noble Ave. He indicated several companies were eyeing Visalia, including Walmart on South Mooney.

Right now, Save Mart dominates the local grocery business, although WinCo and Food4Less have made inroads. A large market is planned for Lover's Lane and Walnut, but it is facing opposition from neighbors. That market would reportedly be part of the Kroeger chain – FoodsCo.

City officials admit any development regarding the two large empty stores would be a boon to the Mooney retail corridor. HomeBase has been empty about eight years and Costco since that grocery warehouse moved to its new location behind Packwood Creek Shopping Center.

Good for Mooney

The news comes on the heels of Hobby Lobby announcing it was going to lease the old 59,283 s.f. Mervyn's store on South Mooney in the Sequoia Mall
“It has everything you need in one location making it the perfect locality for Hobby Lobby to open its first store in California. With the many requests we received to open a store here, we are overjoyed to finally become a member of the Visalia community,” stated John Schumacher, Assistant Vice President of Advertising for Hobby Lobby in a press release last week. He added, “Our unique store gives our loyal patrons and new shoppers an enriched customer experience while filling the void that currently exists in the crafts and home décor arena.”

The store's grand opening is expected to be this fall.

Hobby Lobby will offer crafts, hobbies, picture framing, jewelry making, fashion fabrics, floral, scrapbooking, cards and party, baskets, wearable art, home accents, holiday supplies and much more. The store will be open Monday through Saturday, and will be closed on Sundays.

Also, Mainland Skate is moving into the Baker's Square restaurant and Rabobank plans to open its second branch in Visalia where Blockbuster Video was in the Sequoia Mall center.

Barbeau admitted that having something go into the old Costco would benefit the entire center, of which he is part owner.

“The more it's filled out, the better it goes,” he said. There are only a few stores left in the center. Circuit City, another large store there, closed last year.

Noble Plans Move Forward

City of Visalia Chief Building Official Dennis Lehman said he was not aware of the sale of the old Costco building, but that Walmart's plans to expand its store on Noble Avenue continue to move forward.

Currently, the project is going environmental review. Walmart plans to enlarge that store and make it a Supercenter.

Lehman did point out that an advantage the South Mooney site has is that it is already zoned for a large retail outlet and a company would only need to get building permits to remodel the building. It would not require action by the city planning commission or the city council.

Walmart has already acquired the land needed for the expansion on Noble and has cleared several hurdles, including right-of-way improvement issues with Caltrans.

That expansion would take the store, which is presently 126,783 s.f., to 202,104 s.f.

Walmart considered building a Supercenter in southwest Visalia near Caldwell Avenue and Demaree Street about seven years ago, but pulled those plans in 2004 when it was opposed by a group of neighbors.

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