Centex Leaving
Home Builder to Vacate Big Visalia Office

Tulare County- Centex Corp. is relocating its Central Valley regional office from Visalia to Sacramento in a consolidation move that will mean many more lost jobs locally.

The news came out earlier this month after a lawsuit by the former head of the Centex Sacramento division said he was promised a bonus but instead lost his job when he was replaced by Mike Wyatt, who until now has been at the helm in Visalia and will now relocate to Sacramento.

After several rounds of layoffs in the past six months, a new round eliminated about 20 jobs in Visalia a few weeks ago, say sources familiar with the company. The company eliminated chief planner for new projects, Cliff Ronk's job, among others.
Now, the company has put its big 50,000-square-foot regional headquarters on Akers up for sublease.

The building is available now, according to a local real estate web site. Sources say the big builder will radically downsize its Visalia-based operation where the company had about 130 employees working in the office and field operations here as recently as a month ago.

With plans to consolidate in Sacramento, only a few employees and sales staff will remain in Visalia. Once the company leases its Akers building, it plans to relocate to a far smaller office.

CTX Closing Too

In addition to shutting down the regional office, sister company CTX Mortgage will be closing its retail office here at the end of August after a potential sale to another company – Prospect Mortgage – didn't happen. Greg Sherman, who works at the office, says he and colleagues at the CTX office plan to continue to do mortgage loans with a different company. “We're actually fairly busy,” says the veteran Visalia mortgage broker.

Centex has been Tulare County's largest builder for decades but its volume is less than a third of what it was just two years ago, reflecting the housing crunch nationwide and locally.

During the first seven months of 2008, Centex is slightly behind McMillin Homes in total value, building just 133 new homes in Tulare County, compared to 355 for the same period in 2006 when the local housing market was strong (see chart).

Centex used Visalia as a regional office since it bought the operation of Andy Mangano in 1991 and expanded year after year in the number of subdivisions and towns it built in the Central Valley. The big builder became a major employer here. For years, it was the busiest division for the Dallas-based builder in the state.

Moved to New Office

Centex moved to a vacant space in the big 150,000-square-foot Cigna Insurance building on Akers only a year ago, consolidating scattered offices into one location. Centex leased 50,000 square feet of the building that it now wants to sublease.

But a year later, the collapse of the new home market in California has apparently convinced Centex, like other builders, to pull up stakes here.

Sources say the company will still build new homes here, but no longer develop new subdivisions from the ground up. Instead, it will buy finished lots on an as-needed basis, having the effect of reducing its holding costs until it is ready to build.
In the lawsuit from the head of the Sacramento regional office, Doug Pautsch charged he was put in charge of the consolidated Sacramento, Central Valley (Visalia) and Reno divisions back in April and that Centex let him go without paying a promised $355,000 bonus.

Centex is the nation's third top builder based on houses sold. The company says it operates in 92 markets throughout the U.S. The company's stock has been declining, falling from about $58 a share two years ago to about $13.50 this week.
Calls for a comment from the Centex corporate office were not returned.

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Purple Plums – Red Ink
Another Tough Year for Tree Fruit Business

California - Tree fruit farmers who grow peaches, plums and nectarines – an industry centered in Tulare and Fresno counties – have had a couple of tough years. Despite good tasting fruit, in many cases, farmers have been bleeding red ink.

“Early this season, we were seeing good prices, but after the Fourth of July we've been hammered,” says Ivanhoe plum grower Doug Phillips. Farmers have faced single-digit prices for their boxes of stone fruit in some cases. “That's below the cost of production,” admits Phillips.

Tree fruit farmers who sell the produce FOB – meaning somebody else has to pay for the freight to the big U.S. market back east – are often saddled with freight costs anyway, says several sources.

“Just last week Wal-Mart told contract fruit suppliers that despite the fact they had a contract for a certain price, they would now have to take $3 less per box,” says Dale Janzen, director of industry relations for the California Tree Fruit Agreement. “So that $11 box of fruit now becomes an $8 box of fruit.” Wal-Mart is making the demand based on high shipping costs.”

Referring to boxes of citrus, orange farmer Tokkie Elliot says farmers are discovering that an $18 box of fruit may cost $8 to ship back east, making it a $10 box of fruit to the grower due to the doubling of fuel costs in the past year.

Consumers Price Sensitive

Because of the tough economy, consumers are particularly price-sensitive this year. Yet grocery stores are selling fruit they paid 36 cents a pound for, for a five-to-six-time markup, says Phillips. “People can't afford $2.99 a pound for peaches right now,” says Janzen.

On top of that, the price for fuel to gather and transport the crop has doubled in the past year and fertilizer prices have gone from $300 a ton to $900 a ton.
Exeter stone fruit grower Kerry Whitson says reports he has heard say peaches, plums and nectarines are building up in cold storage plants around the area, “Between 400,000 to 500,000 cartons this week.”

“We may end up with a three-week supply now during the peak of the season. That's bad news for small growers who have certain varieties,” says Whitson. “People I know in the business and ourselves too, are having to leave fruit on the trees rather than pay to pick it or picking only the large sizes.”

Prices Down, Costs Up

Whitson says “the real problem is that prices we are getting are 25% less than we were in 2004. Meanwhile, our input costs are 30% higher than they were in 2004.”

Whitson says the issue is not so much oversupply. “We have 5 million pounds less than we did five years ago” after growers pulled trees or turned to other crops. But especially in the case of plums, the reduced supply hasn't made a major difference.

Whitson adds the argument made for some time that retailers aren't cooperating like they used to in reducing the price of fruit during the peak time – a move that would move more fruit. “They want to sell for their average price of $2.12 to $2.59 per pound and handle less fruit but make a large markup.”

He says grocers aren't paying attention to market surveys that show consumers want a medium-size piece of fruit that tastes good, choosing rather to display hard fruit that is larger.

“It's going to be another tough year for growers and that will be bad news for the workforce too” as growers turn to other crops that don't require so much labor.
Whitson's company sells about 350,000 cartons a year.

Sell Direct?

Indeed, some farmers have decided to avoid big shipping costs and the middleman selling direct to consumers. “One fruit grower told me he was selling peaches for 89 cents a pound.” “Don't feel sorry for me, that's $19 a box,” says Janzen referring to the farmer's arithmetic, “He's as happy as a clam.” Still he has to work very hard as grower, shipper, salesman and bag boy for the customer. Farmers who sell fruit at the farmers markets can avoid the industry assessment on a per acre basis use for promotion.

Extolling the benefit of direct marketing to consumers is Bob McKellar who helped organize a group of Tulare County farmers, Family Farm Fresh, who deliver to local homes each week and now have more than 300 customers in the Visalia area. “Our growers are happy,” says McKellar.

Selma peach farmer and writer Mas Masomoto has taken the direct marketing idea one step further getting customers to adopt a tree and harvest the fruit on his farm getting consumers to come to him and pay for the right to eat a fresh peach.

Doug Phillips, for one, has seen low prices about this time of year before and hopes to see better prices later in August. Right now, fruit is backing up in the cold storage houses of the Valley and some houses are telling growers not to bother delivering their fruit.

The industry is expecting production of about 56.5 million boxes of stone fruit. “It's ironic that in late July, we see the best fruit and the lowest prices,” says Phillips. Indeed, the industry says some of the best-tasting, best-looking and good-size fruit are out there right now – ready to eat.

One alternate outlet is the freezer bin given the popularity of frozen fruit among consumers as a way to absorb too many peaches with a short shelf life.

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Farming Less Pollution
Conservation Tillage Catching on in Tulare County

By Rick Elkins

Tulare County - A relatively new farming practice in Tulare County is cutting down on dust and diesel pollution, while at the same time shaving fuel costs for farmers.

Conservation tillage, a method of cultivating crops to reduce soil erosion, is being practiced more and more as the price of fuel goes up and dust control grows more important.

In conservation tillage, crops are grown with minimal cultivation of the soil. When the amount of tillage is reduced, the stubble or plant residues remain on top of the soil rather than being plowed or disked into the soil. The new crop is planted into the stubble or small strips of tilled soil. Weeds are controlled with cover crops or herbicides rather than by cultivation.

Sustainable Conservation, a non-profit organization working with the private sector to promote clean air and water projects, is working with UC Davis on efforts to utilize conservation tillage. The practice reduces soil loss through water erosion because more crop residue is left on the soil surface and soil drainage, organic matter and moisture content are improved. Conservation tillage also reduces air pollution (dust and diesel emissions), sequesters carbon (inhibiting global warming), improves water quality and creates wildlife habitat.

“Tulare County is one of the leading counties picking up on conservation tillage. It's got some extra boost because of the cost of diesel,” said Ladi Asgill, a conservation tillage project manager with Sustainable Conservation.

Ben Curti, a Waukena-area farmer and dairyman, said it greatly reduces the number of times a tractor has to be used to plant a new crop.

“Basically, you're going over it twice instead of six or seven times,” said Curti. “That's four times you don't have a tractor out there.”

Tony Souza, a Tulare area dairyman, said that not disking the old field greatly reduces dust. Curti said a tractor very often may go over a field more than five times before the next crop is planted.

Souza and Curti both said that when the practice was first introduced in the area a few years ago it was not as effective as it is today. That method, call no-till, did not disk the soil at all. “It was like planting in concrete,” said Souza.

Today, they use a practice call split-till that tills a strip – about six inches wide – then the seed is planted in that tilled area. “You work a strip and plant in that strip,” said Souza, adding the strip-till machinery does six or seven functions at one time, including the planting. More and more, you will see fields that are not plowed with rows of corn emerging. That is a strip-till field.

Most farmers are using strip-till to plant silage after a wheat crop. The wheat crop is harvested and the stalks cut down, then the farmer irrigates, then follows that up with the split-till planting. Approved herbicides are then used to control weeds as the new crop grows.

“We use Roundup-resistant plants. It's the only way you can use no-till,” said Souza.

“Conservation tillage uses half as many tractors to cultivate a field as conventional tillage, translating to lower fuel consumption and labor costs, decreased material inputs and less maintenance spending. In total, savings have been estimated between $40 and $75 per acre per year, a large savings compared to input cost and crop value,” reports Sustainable Conservation, which is studying the practice in the Valley in conjunction with UC Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Reduced tillage practices in crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, sorghum and cereal grains were introduced over 50 years ago to conserve soil and water. While conservation tillage is widely used throughout the Midwest, comprising more than half of the crop acreage in the U.S., less than 1% of California row crops use this method.

“I think it is catching on (in the Valley). It's really gotten a big boost with the high cost of fuel. They (farmers) realize you can maintain your yields and reduce the amount of dust. It approves the relationship with the residents,” said Asgill.
He said yields are about the same and some growers are finding they have to rip (deep disk) every few years. But improvement in equipment has enabled more growers to begin the practice.

Souza said so far he has not been able to use less water. Asgill said that is still being studied, but they have found “the longer you have conservation tillage, the more organic material builds and the better it holds water. People doing it over four years start to see a difference.”

Pollution Credits

Curti said farmers should get pollution credits for using the strip-till method. He said they are cutting down on PM10 in the air, as well as PM25, both big environmental issues.

“If you are doing anything like this, why shouldn't you get credit? These are things to mitigate air pollution,” said Curti, adding they are penalized for practices that do cause pollution, so why not get credit for reducing pollution?

“It's one of those green practices – you're saving fuel and it's good for air quality,” said Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner Gary Kunkel.

Asgill said there is both a payment available to farmers who practice conservation tillage and pollution credits available from the Air Board for the practice.

“NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) has a program that provides payments to farmers who are willing to try conservation tillage. They get paid per acre,” he said. “There is a pollution credit program. It does exist, but it is not utilized too much,” he added.

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Miss Tulare County Pageant in Search of Director

Tulare County - In 1952, three members of the Visalia Downtown Kiwanis Club – Dick Parker, Ed Ellis and Al Blain – each contributed $500 to launch the Miss Tulare County Pageant. The local Kiwanis club has been sponsoring the pageant every year since.
Today, the club is faced once again with coming up with an Executive Director after Trina Rettig resigned her position this month.

“We're very sorry to learn of Trina's resignation. No one is more supportive of the program and the young ladies that have represented Tulare County. We wish her well,” said Kiwanian Lloyd Trout, who once headed up the pageant for many years and has remained involved for decades.

“To those concerned that the pageant will not continue, that is not the case. Our goal is to see the yearly pageant continue without interruption,” he vowed in the statement released Tuesday.

The club has begun the search for volunteers and a new director and plans are the 2009 pageant will come off without a hitch.

“The program is bigger than any one person or group,” said Trout.
Rettig cited personal reasons for her stepping aside. She had been executive director for five years.

“It's a lot of work. The hardest work I've ever done,” she told the Voice, adding the pageant is done entirely by volunteers.

Her departure, she said, should not affect the present Miss Tulare County – Summer Loftis. She said her scheduling of events continues, including her talk before the Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.

“I'm hoping the club will get the help they need. I'm helping as well,” she added.
Complicating matters slightly is that Elaine Rider has resigned as judge's chair and Candice Weaver wants to step down as associate executive director. All are members of the Kiwanis Club.

Weaver said the club is searching for a new director and other leaders. “Kiwanis are committed to keeping it going,” she said.

Kiwanis Support

The Miss Tulare County Pageant has been a Kiwanis affair for 57 years. For more than 40 years, Lloyd and Vanabeth Trout were instrumental in its existence and success. Scholarship money has greatly increased – from $200 for the winner in the 1950s to more than $14,000 given to the girls this year.

Two Miss Tulare County winners – Lisa Gail Davenport and Lisa Michelle Duncan - both were named Miss California and went on to compete for Miss America.
Many other winners have gone on to distinguished themselves. Miss Tulare County 1969, Maurine Abramson, is the wife of former California Secretary of State Bill Jones, while 1982 winner Lisa Davenport Ryan is a co-host of the 700 Club in Nashville, and 1994 winner Jennifer Cordua is an attorney fighting for water rights for farmers.

Rettig summed it up best when she said the pageant is all about the girls.

“I loved all the girls I've come into contact with. They're like my own daughters. I hope someone can continue the legacy,” said Rettig.

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County Welfare Agency Move Clears Hurdle

By Miles Shuper

Tulare County - The move of TulareWorks, the county's welfare agency, from downtown Visalia to the site of the former Fairway Market in north Visalia cleared a hurdle Monday when the Visalia Planning Commission recommended approval of a required conditional use permit.

The county currently is continuing negotiations with Joe Gong for the 34,600-square-foot former grocery store on the west side of North Dinuba Boulevard (Highway 63) between West Prospect and West Ferguson.

The shift would move between 128 and 155 workers from downtown to North Visalia, another major step in the continuing development in that area. A new Food4Less anchors a shopping center just north of the old market, the nearby Riverway Sports Park and several large shopping outlets, and other new facilities are finished or nearing completion.

The vote was 4-0 for approval with Adam Peck abstaining.

Plans and permits still must be completed and the lease agreement between Gong and the county finalized.

The agreement is expected to be for at least five years and include terms for cost of remodeling and other construction issues, county officials say.

A move of TulareWorks from the Center Street site, which contains the red-brick single-story annex and the so-called four-story former Tulare County courthouse, is likely to revive interest in the property. County officials say several options, including sale of the property and shifting other county offices to the site, are being considered. The City of Visalia has expressed interest in the property, as have local investors and developers for the area north of Center to Oak Street and east of Court to Church.

The move to Dinuba Boulevard, which likely will take close to a year to complete due to required building permits and remodeling, would move a variety of services closer to a large number of those who need and use them, says David Crawford, assistant director of TulareWorks. The move would also put TulareWorks within walking distance of the Health and Human Services health clinic just to the north. It also will help reduce vehicle trips by staff from downtown to the city's north side.

The city's Route 7 and the Tulare County Area Transit North County Route travel Highway 63 and have stops close to the sites.

Another advantage, officials say, is that the move would reduce the amount of new infrastructure needed for information technology (IT) connections between Health and Human Services facilities.

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Two Local Hospital Districts
Survive Hospital Closures

By Steve Pastis

The Alta Healthcare District in Dinuba and the Lindsay Hospital District are still active, long after their respective hospitals closed. The two districts, each funded from a share of local property taxes, stay active to pursue their diverse agendas.

“We had a board that ran the hospital,” said Leonard Higdon who served two terms on the Alta Healthcare District, explaining that the board's duties changed when the hospital went into bankruptcy.

“The board really doesn't meet on a regular basis,” he said. “All they do is oversee that the person who is in charge of the settlement takes care of it as it should be done. A Fresno company (Bressler and Associates) takes care of the moneys that come in and go out.”

The Alta Healthcare District collects about $250,000 a year, according to Dinuba City Manager Ed Todd.

“They're paying off all the creditors as a result of the bankruptcy filing,” Todd said. “They have about seven or eight years left, as I recall.”

The district manages, however, to use a small amount of its funds for community healthcare needs.

“There's 'a little wiggle room' between what they collect and the settlement,” Todd said, defining the amount as between $10,000 and $15,000.

He said that the money goes to support medical priorities in the community, such as helping to pay for an ambulance.

Todd noted that there are healthcare providers in Dinuba.

“We've got a number of clinics that provide a basic level of healthcare,” he said. “We're looking at how we can get a regional hospital that will meet our needs so we don't have to go to Visalia every time we need a hospital.”

Dinuba officials have discussed strategies with representatives of Reedley, Selma and Kingsburg to get a regional hospital in the area. Once the Alta Hospital District has paid off the settlement resulting from the hospital's bankruptcy, it will be in a better position to contribute its share to a regional project.

Unlike the Alta Healthcare District, the Lindsay Hospital District it does not have a legal debt that eats up most of its funds.

The city decided to continue to fund its hospital district, even after its hospital closed down over ten years ago. The district collects around $330,000 a year from its share of the 1% property tax, according to Greg McQueen, hospital district member who said that the money has mainly been going into a bank account.

“If we close the district and abandon it, people will still pay the 1%,” said McQueen. “Your property taxes will not go down if we were closed.” He said that closing the district would result in the money going to Tulare County. “It's better to keep the money local,” he added.

“We've accumulated money over the years,” McQueen said, estimating that the district currently has about $1.5 million. “A majority of that will go to the Wellness Center. We'll have enough money to keep it running whether people join it or not.”

The Wellness Center has “been our focus for two or three years,” he added. “We're hoping construction starts in the fall of this year and that it opens in the fall of next year,”

Plans call for the center to have a diabetes clinic, a physical therapy center, a large instructional area, classrooms and examination rooms.

“Everything is directed at prevention,” said Lindsay City Manager Scot Townsend. “The thing that jumped out at us was that 85% of hospital visits could have been prevented with a lifestyle change.” He added that lifestyle changes can affect heart problems, obesity and substance abuse issues.

The center will cost about $5.5 million, Townsend estimates. The Lindsay Hospital District is “contributing toward a loan of $3 million,” he said. “The city doesn't pay anything.”

Plans for the Wellness Center are currently being redesigned from a three-story building to a two-story one. The new building is expected to be about 14,000 square feet, with the space equally divided between the facility's two floors.

 

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What's New

Pappas Telecasting headquarters on Chinowth at 198 is for lease as of next spring, says realtor Bill Whitlatch. The 9,000-square-foot building was originally built as a restaurant, but has been the corporate headquarters for the Visalia-based company for years. Now facing bankruptcy, the company will apparently vacate the premises after it sells off some of its TV and radio station holdings or liquidates. Pappas is working with a judge to sell off some stations. Founder Harry Pappas, once a resident of Visalia, moved several years ago to Nevada and has sold off all of his real estate here. Pappas no longer owns the landmark Chinowth building, having sold it off last year.

Add the Wagon Wheel Restaurant on Willis and Something Fresh at the Chinowth House next to Vons (now closed too) to the shuttered Visalia restaurants that have closed recently. Wagon Wheel's bar remains open this week as we go to press.

With folks going out to eat less these days, what better time for Visalia to remember their great selection of local restaurants at the 15th annual Waiters Race to be held September 25 (5:45 p.m.). And what better time for local waiters who have been suffering lower tips during the economic turndown to enter a race that promises $1,000 cash to the winner in both the men's and women's category. Downtown has a current promotion to get you to visit Downtown businesses too, including restaurants, that offers winner's who enter, fuel for their car. Just think of it as Eat here – Get gas.

Preliminary plans for the new St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church on Caldwell in Visalia were filed with the City of Visalia this week. The $13 million, 114,000-square-foot church is being built by the Diocese of Fresno Education Corp. The crucifix-shaped church is named for the 16th century archbishop of Milan, Italy. The huge project will take five to six years to complete.

Concerns that California's two largest private utilities may raise power rates big time in coming months could ease if the price of natural gas used to power up much of the electric power we use continues to head down. Prices on the futures market for natural gas have followed the drop in crude oil this past two weeks. Gas has dropped from near $14/mmBTU to $9 this past week. Natural gas prices this time last year were about $8 – about what they were at the beginning of this year. Lower gas prices would be good news too for the upstart San Joaquin Power Authority which hopes to start delivering electricity to consumers in the Central Valley as soon as late this year. “We need to offer a 5% discount to users below what the utilities offer,” says Dave Orth, and lower gas prices will enable the agency to buy lower priced power on the open market.

GWF Power Systems, which has nine power plants in California, has announced it wants to double the power output of its Tracy peaker plant by making it combined cycle that uses power to boil water and then the power the steam making the plant more efficient. The company says it will use dry-cooling technology that will radically reduce water use. Power production will increase to 314 megawatts, enabling the plant to run year-round rather than as a peaker running only in summer months. The combined cycle also reduces air emissions. Now, sources say, the company will do the same at its Henrietta peaker power plant near Lemoore, adding jobs and a new year-round power source to Kings County.

CapitalSource Bank has purchased 22 branches of Fremont Investment and Loan including Hanford and Visalia this week. The new bank is based in Chevy Chase, MD.

AAA will close its three California call centers in the state, resulting in a loss of 1,000 jobs. The company said it was too expensive to operate in California. Toyota will not make the popular Prius in California, deciding recently to make the hybrid cars in low-cost Mississippi. Sources say California didn't offer the carmaker any incentives to site a plant in the Bay Area where Toyota and GM have a joint venture.

Hanford will get a four-story Holiday Inn Express along the freeway at 12th and 198, built by Visalia hotel owner Anil Chagan. He is masterplanning a restaurant at the site and has been working with Cool Hand Luke's as a possible tenant for the big 8,000-square-foot eatery.

Depends how you look at it, Proposition 8 that would ban same-sex marriage now has revised wording. The original wording for the November 4 ballot measure was: “[Proposition 8] amends the California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The new language says the initiative “Changes the California Constitution to eliminate right of same-sex couples to marry.” A recent field poll shows 51% against the ban and 42% in favor – just opposite of how the Valley feels about it. The new language appears to be more favorable to the forces who want to retain the right of same-sex marriage.

Higher interest rates are no help. Thirty-year fixed interest rates have climbed more than a point since spring, putting the average rate at 6.6% this week, says Freddie Mac. Sources say perhaps the best thing to come out of the new housing bill, to be signed by President Bush, is a $7,500 tax credit for first time home buyers. Home buying activity is said to be good in Tulare County right now, while the median has fallen to about $175,000. In California, the median price fell 37.7% in June.

Sign of the times? At this week's Visalia Planning Commission meeting the planners granted five extensions on subdivisions in the city. A new state law makes it easier for developers to get an extension in light of the housing construction downtown that has slowed the need for home subdivisions. The five subdivisions have a total of 601 lots. A similar developer request is before the City of Tulare Planning Commission as well.

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Top of the News

Caldwell/Court Deal Falls Apart

The deal to develop a retail center at Caldwell Avenue and Court Street in Visalia has fallen apart. The Highland Development Company, based in Pasadena, had scheduled construction to begin next month and be completed by February 2009. Among the tenants to open at the site were a Longs Drugs store and a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.
“Highland made the decision to no longer be in escrow to buy the entire 13-acre parcel,” said Jim Robinson, senior vice president with McMillan Homes, which owns the property.
“Unfortunately, we had to,” said Michael J. Singelyn, senior director of development for the Highland Development Company. “The cost of the project's traffic impact fees has made this economically unfeasible. They are 50% higher than anyone else in the Valley.” He said that the economy and the low level of interest from prospective tenants were also factors in the decision.
“Now we're talking to another group,” Robinson said. “If everything works as planned, it will close in 60 days.” He wouldn't reveal who the new group is or what their plans are, but said, “I assume that Fresh & Easy and Longs Drugs would be interested in talking to this new group.
“We're very interested in serving the community of Visalia,” confirmed Brendan Wonnacott, spokesperson for Fresh & Easy.

Western Warehouse Closing Valley Stores

California's four Western Warehouse stores, including Bakersfield and Visalia, will close next month. The Visalia store on Mooney Blvd. is just south of the Visalia Mall. The store sells western apparel, cowboy hats, boots and belts.
An employee at one of the stores told the Voice the closure comes after Boot Barn bought a number of the California locations and as part of the agreement, Western Warehouse agreed to close the remaining four stores in California. Boot Barn is building a new store at Preferred Outlets in Tulare.

Financial Title Visalia Office Slated for Closure

The manager of the Visalia office of Financial Title confirmed that the local office will be closing, but she did not known when. She said the office's operations will be merged with the Fresno office. Financial title had already closed its offices in Porterville, Tulare and Hanford.
Financial Title is another of several title companies to close in the county as the slowdown in housing industry continues. The city of Tulare is down to just one title company after First American Title closed there recently. The local Financial Title manager did say the Visalia office has remained busy.

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