News

A little shopping gossip for you this week with news of openings and closures at centers in Fresno and Clovis.

First, a shocker from Fig Garden Village: Coach and White House Black Market stores have closed.

The purse seller and the clothing store – both big names for the center – closed quietly in recent weeks but it sounds like someone is waiting in the wings to take over.

Why did they close?

Coach’s corporate office would only say that it closed the store at the end of its 10-year lease. It does not have any plans to reopen anywhere else at this time, saying it will continue to serve area customers through Macy’s and its website.

White House Black Market also opened in Fig Garden in 2006 and was likely at the end of a 10-year lease, too (though it did not return messages seeking comment).

The White House Black Market store in River Park will remain open, according to employees.

As to what will replace the stores in Fig Garden, it sounds like something is in the works – but no one is naming any names yet.

Fig Garden’s owner, New York-based Rouse Properties, said in an emailed statement that it is “in advanced negotiations with two high-quality retailers to take over these prime spaces.”

It added that demand for spaces from tenants in Fig Garden has been “robust as proven by the recent opening of Lululemon.”

Just who these retailers are will likely remain a mystery until the deals are finalized.

Rouse, which bought the center back in June for $106.1 million, owns 36 malls in 21 states. Relationships with retailers at all those malls can mean a big company like Rouse has a little more leverage to lure highly sought-after national shops into the center.

Until that happens, though, we’ll just have to wait and see – and maybe gossip a little. Who do you think it is? Who would fit well in that stretch with Active Fresno, Lululemon, J.Jill?

And who would you like to see go in there or any of the handful of other empty spaces – the former Tassels and Coldwater Creek, for example – in Fig Garden?

Feel free to respond to my blog about the topic at FresnoBeehive.com.

Trading Post

Things are chugging right along with the remodel of the Trading Post shopping center at the southeast corner of Herndon and Clovis avenues.

By now, you probably know that Sprouts Farmers Market is coming. It celebrates its grand opening at 7 a.m. Feb. 17. Expect to see lots of people line up for giveaways and deals well before then.

The Ross Dress for Less is scheduled to open March 5. Pieology Pizzeria and Skechers are opening in late spring or early summer.

Some newcomers you may not know about yet: Tuesday Morning and Great American Barbershop.

Tuesday Morning – that treasure trove of colorful, affordable lamps, pots and pans, curtains and other home and yard decor – just signed a lease, according to retail broker Peter Orlando.

It will be the second location for Tuesday Morning, but it likely won’t open for many months, perhaps in early summer.

The Great American Barbershop will open a second location here, too. The business opened its first location about this time last year, reviving traditional barbershop services such as using straight razors, hot towels and lather neck shaves.

A Sprint store is also scheduled to open in the center.

Trove Market

You may remember a few weeks back when I talked about online furniture marketplace MoveLoot.com helping people buy and sell sofas in our area.

Well, the folks at Trove Market tweeted me to say, hey, we’re doing business in Fresno, too.

So, a little more on Trove Market: It’s also an online marketplace selling furniture and other vintage items such as statues of wooden Indonesian lovers. The items can come from individuals or stores.

Users browse what’s for sale via its website, www.usetrove.com, or via Apple or Android apps or Apple TV.

When buyers find something they like, they can go into the shop if it’s in their area, or set up a sale online.

Trove can handle the credit card payments, including giving you time to check out the item in person before the sale goes through.

Launched a little over a year ago, Trove Market doesn’t have many items or boutiques selling in the Fresno area. The closest is probably a Patterson seller who makes tables from reclaimed wood.

But as long as the item is able to be shipped, users can buy pieces from across the nation.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/bethany-clough/article58345548.html#storylink=cpy