The Buzz: Big move for Big Lots! in Redding. And YAKS is coming back – Redding Record Searchlight

Big Lots! is on the move.

When then-Redding Mayor Julie Winter announced at this year’s State of the City that the former Kmart building was being redeveloped, plans showed that Big Lots! would be among the new tenants.

What wasn’t clear was whether this would be a second location for Big Lots!

The center’s developer told me this week that the mid-box retailer that sells a little bit of everything will relocate its Hilltop Drive store to the former Kmart shopping center.

Big Lots! opened at 1340 Hilltop Drive in late 1994 under the name MacFrugal’s. The company rebranded as Big Lots! in 2001.

Work is expected to start soon on the former Kmart center, which is being repurposed as Cascade Station.

Big Lots! has signed a lease for 35,000 square feet of the former Kmart building, said Dayna Desmond, director of asset management for Argonaut Investments, a Larkspur-based company that acquires and manages retail properties.

“We have submitted our plans for approval by the city, and I can tell you we need to complete our work for Big Lots! in July … so they can open some time in the fall,” Desmond told me.

Desmond said that Big Lots! owns the building it’s currently in and will repurpose it for another tenant. Desmond knows who it is but declined to tell me, saying that needs to come from Big Lots!

An email and phone call to Big Lots! corporate office in Columbus, Ohio, were not immediately returned.

Meanwhile, Cascade Station will include the existing Ross Dress For Less, and 99 Cents Only Store. The former Kmart will be divided and include the 35,000-square-foot space that Big Lots! will occupy.

Desmond said at this time Big Lots! is the only new tenant that has signed a lease.

“We are talking with a number of tenants interested in the space,” she said.

Ross soon will have a second location in the Churn Creek MarketPlace center at South Bonnyview and Churn Creek roads. That center will be anchored by a Save Mart grocery store and include a Les Schwab. In-N-Out Burger, Panda Express and AM/PM ARCO have already opened there.

Yes, YAKS is coming back

At one time, YAKS Koffee had five locations in Redding.

But after a nearly 10-year run here, the coffee shop that teased its arrival in 2004 with signs posted around town that asked the question, “What the Heck is YAKS,” left Redding in 2013 and relocated to Siskiyou County.

Now YAKS is coming back, per a post on Facebook that announced open interviews for jobs in Redding.

“Our original specialty coffee house which started in Redding some almost 20 years ago is once again going to serve this wonderful city and her neighboring communities. Follow our social media for more updates,” the post said.

Interviews will be conducted at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Braided Maine inside the Holiday Inn at 1900 Hilltop Drive, the post said.

I phoned Alyssa Williams, the contact listed on the post, but she did not return two messages as of Friday afternoon.

It appears YAKS is being just as coy as it was in the months leading up its first arrival in Redding.

The Facebook post does not mention where the new YAKS will be.

Currently, YAKS operates a location in Dunsmuir, Yaks on the 5, and in Mount Shasta.

Stay tuned.

More cannabis retail opening in Redding

Work has started on a marijuana retail shop in south Redding.

The city issued Bloom Innovations a building permit in October to refurbish multiple suites in a strip mall at 1852 Buenaventura Boulevard into a cannabis dispensary. Two phone messages left for a Bloom Innovations representative were not returned.

Meanwhile, remodeling continues on another retail marijuana shop at 3270 S. Market St., a former used car lot. A representative with Hype Cannabis also did not return a phone message.

Hype Cannabis is just south of where Aleck Commercial Cultivation is converting the former Northern Rehab Equipment building into a marijuana cultivation business. A black wrought-iron fence has been put up around the property, which is near the Good News Rescue Mission.

To date, the city has licensed three retail marijuana businesses: Synergy on Hemsted Drive, Cookies Redding on East Cypress Avenue, and Sundial Collective on Twin View Boulevard.

‘Scrawny or Splendid?’

While Redding celebrated the lighting of the city’s Christmas tree Friday night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom lit the Capitol Christmas tree Thursday in Sacramento.

And like the one in Redding, the Capitol tree was cut in Shasta County. But it took two trips from Sacramento to the North State to get it done this year.

That’s because the first tree had a crack in it and had to be replaced for safety reasons, per news reports.

But the new tree didn’t exactly win over critics upon its arrival.

In a CBS Sacramento story titled “Scrawny of Splendid?”, one resident said, “For what they paid for it, I think they got robbed.” The story said that employees’ time and fuel to transport the tree to Sacramento are the only expenses.

To be fair, a certified arborist in the same story said the second tree was perfect.

Chimenti to make his case to the Patriots

The Measure A tour comes to the weekly Redding Patriots meeting at 2570 S. Bonnyview Road in Redding.

Shasta County Supervisor Joe Chimenti will headline “The Facts About the Tax” at 6 p.m. Monday.

It was Chimenti who spurred the county to put a one-cent specific sales tax for public safety on the March 3, 2020, ballot. And the District 1 supervisor has been making the rounds promoting the tax.

Because it’s a specific tax to fund public safety, the countywide measure will need two-thirds’ voter approval.

READ MORE BUZZ:

• Winner in race to open first at new-look Mt. Shasta Mall is …
• New life for old Shopko, old downtown Redding motel?
• Downtown continues to evolve. Why it’s not just about the parking garage going away

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-225-8219. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

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