Before
After
After
writing last week about the closing sale of the last Kmart in California, we
are going to write about the transformation of the shopping center that used to
house the Placerville Kmart store. It has had the transformation that
apparently the Grass Valley center is going to have in a few months. The center
has replaced the Kmart store with a Target, which has brought new customers and
a much-needed makeover to this center. The center was already undergoing some
transformation as it added the Ross Dress for Less store, which is the first
new business opening I ever wrote about: Hayden's
Business Blog: Ross Dress for Less coming to Prospectors Plaza in Placerville
(haydenbusinessblog.blogspot.com), Hayden's
Business Blog: Ross Dress for Less in Placerville is now open!
(haydenbusinessblog.blogspot.com), they added a new freeway sign to attract
customers, and the center added Styles for Less and a relocated Payless Shoe
Source. But when 2018 and 2019 had come, the center was starting to look a
little sad. The center had a struggling Kmart store which they ended up losing
in 2018 as a victim of Sears' bankruptcy
filing. They lost Bank of America and Umpqua Bank in 2016 to their
consolidation of operations to the Main Street and the Broadway locations in
the Eastern part of town. They ended up losing Styles for Less and Payless Shoe
Source as a result of their business struggles in 2018 and 2019. But the center
still had a lot going for it though. They still had, and still have, Ross Dress
for Less, Save Mart Supermarkets, CVS Pharmacy, Fresh Mex Express, and Anytime
Fitness which attract customers throughout the area. The center is visible and
convenient from the freeway, which helps attract customers to these stores. The
center definitely had much potential to become the grand shopping center of
Placerville, which I believe it is starting to become.
In
2020, the center added the new Target store, along with a Mattress Firm bed
store. This was a bright and shining spot for Placerville during a very dark
period for the entire world, with tyranny and very few events happening during
that time. These new stores gave something people could look forward to as a
community with products people have been driving 15 miles to El Dorado Hills or
Folsom for years.
I first
visited the Target store in August 2020, and I visited my second time during
the Christmas shopping season. From my visit, the store looks fancier, it has a
larger game and toy selection than I am used to seeing at stores similar to
Target or Walmart, and it is a fun atmosphere to shop in. It felt surprisingly
more entertaining than visiting the Kmart in Grass Valley or visiting this
location when it was Kmart. Kmart really had few toys and games and had no
electronics to be found in the store when we visited, which I felt was sad
because that is usually one of my favorite departments in the store. Most of
their bread and butter was the clothing section, which Target is mainly known
for also. Target has a large grocery section which can supplement going to the
grocery store with. Kmart's only grocery department was centered around snacks.
I was surprised to read that this Target
store is the first small-format store in the Sacramento region, because it felt
like a normal size Target which I have been used to seeing across the country. Visiting
Target did feel similar to visiting Kmart seeing their clothing and home
furnishings department and their layout in general. It felt more like Kmart was
in its heyday, with many shoppers and many items on the shelves you would have
found at Kmart.
Since
Target has come to the center, the center has added two new tenants, the Habit
Burger Grill and Bath and Body Works, two popular tenants who will help
energize this center into relevance as a shopping destination for Western El
Dorado County. This center may see more new tenants in the future. According to CBRE, the center may see a new
QuikStop gas station and a Mountain Mikes Pizza restaurant (Placerville
CA: Prospector's Plaza - Retail Space For Lease - CBRE). The center next
door, the Crossings at El Dorado may see an exciting addition for the
Placerville area, Dutch Bros Coffee. (Placerville
CA: Crossings at El Dorado - Retail Space For Lease - CBRE), and from
Sacramento Business Journal: Crossings
at El Dorado project moves forward with new tenants - Sacramento Business
Journal (bizjournals.com).
Other
tenants have shown interest in opening in this shopping center. In October
2019, according to the Sacramento Business Journal, there was reportedly
interest from Old Navy, Mod Pizza, Aspen Dental, and Chili's Grill and Bar in
wanting to open in this shopping center (More
tenants in negotiations for Placerville center, plans suggest | Prospector's
Plaza (prospectorsplaza.com)).
According to the Lease Plan, Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins, and Aspen
Dental are in a lease negotiation with the real estate company who owns the
center (Placerville
CA: Prospector's Plaza - Retail Space For Lease - CBRE).
Overall, I believe the upgrades to this shopping center will be a benefit to this
center, as it creates more jobs for the community and gives shoppers more
options to shop in their own community, which I believe will complement with
the mom-and-pop stores on Main Street and across Placerville, and less
incentive to shop elsewhere. Thanks for reading my blogpost and God bless!!
For God
so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whoever believes Him
shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
