The Buzz: Why these customers think Salvation Army made right move to Lake Blvd. – Redding Record Searchlight

If early reviews are an indication, the Salvation Army picked a good spot to relocate its thrift store from downtown Redding.

Displaced after the building at Pine and Yuba streets was sold last year, the thrift store’s new home is in a busy strip mall on Lake Boulevard in north Redding.

And with the addition of the Salvation Army, the shopping center now has two thrift stores, a Dollar Tree and another thrift shop within walking distance of the strip mall.

An open-floor layout and more parking are among reasons store management told me they like the new location.

Customers I spoke to agreed.

“I am glad to see the people (Salvation Army) up here,” said Redding resident Marilyn Kank, who lives near the Lake Boulevard shopping center.

Kank visited the Salvation Army’s former downtown location about once a week and said it always felt like she was shopping in tight quarters.

“I think they got a bigger space,” she said, adding that the new store is cleaner.

Last spring, the downtown building that the Salvation Army anchored at 1557 Pine Street was sold to a local investment group that has since leased it to Bethel Music. The music label will relocate its headquarters there from north Redding later this year.

The Salvation Army thrift shop had been downtown for more than 20 years.

“We have had a good relationship with the new owners, but they are going in a different location,” Ray Yant, who oversees the Salvation Army thrift stores from Oroville to Redding, told the Record Searchlight last April.

Yant did not return a phone message left at his office Friday.

The Salvation Army opened on Lake Boulevard in mid-December. The store is flanked by a Round Table Pizza and McDonald’s.

Shirl Williams, 64, of Cottonwood, was visiting the new store for the first time Thursday afternoon.

“They are very much organized,” she said.

Williams calls herself “a thrift store hunter” and likes the fact the Salvation Army store is in the same center as Superior Thrift and within walking distance of the Shascade Community Services’ Treasure Connection thrift store on Masonic Avenue.

Williams said she works multiple jobs and is always looking for deals.

“Everything is going up so high” in price, she offered.

Rachel Taillefer, who owns Superior Thrift, said she has been in the Lake Boulevard shopping center for nearly 20 years and she welcomes the competition.

“A little competition is healthy for any business,” Taillefer said.

Former Starbucks building sells

Lacking a drive-thru but never hurting for business, the downtown Starbucks at the corner of Market Street and Eureka Way closed last January after 20 years. It was the first Starbucks to open in Redding.

Last month, local restaurateurs Jeff and Susan Garrett bought the building for $450,000, per Shasta County property records.

The Garretts own the Lumberjacks franchise and Jeff’s California Cattle Co. in Redding.

Jeff Garrett told me they purchased the building as an investment and are marketing it for lease.

“I have a few people looking so I am hoping to rent it for a restaurant probably. That’s what it is pretty much built out for. It has a grease trap there and it just needs a (kitchen) hood,” Garrett said.

Garrett said they have had their eye on the building and believe it’s in a good spot, despite the notion that it can be difficult to access.

“I drive by every day and I think it’s a great corner. Some people say it’s hard to get in and out and I have never had a problem,” Garrett said. “I think it’s a prime location for a little sandwich place, barbecue place. … Starbucks was doing quite the business, but they wanted to have that drive-thru. If I owned it with their business, I would have stayed there.”

Before it was Starbucks, the building was home to a Long John Silver’s. The fast-food fish restaurant closed in 1997.

Public can chime in on Costco move — again

Here’s your chance to comment on Costco’s planned move to freeway frontage property off South Bonnyview Road west of Interstate 5.

In the words of Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again.

This is the second time that portions of the draft environmental impact report have been recirculated.

This time the public has until 5 p.m. on Feb. 6 to comment.

Last July, the Redding Planning Commission recommended approval of the project to the City Council.

But the move is on hold again after Mark Wolfe, the attorney representing Bonnyview Bechelli Coalition, a group that opposes Costco’s move, sent a letter to the city raising questions about the final EIR’s traffic and air quality impacts.

The EIR is one of the final steps before the big-box warehouse can move forward with its plans to build at Bechelli Lane and South Bonnyview Road.

In November 2018, Wolfe also sent a letter on the eve of the Planning Commission meeting, which convinced commissioners to recommend recirculating portions of the draft EIR the first time.

Costco wants to relocate its Dana Drive store and build a 152,000-square-foot new store – about 40 percent larger than its current location. The store also would feature a gas station with 20 fueling positions and the ability to expand to 30.  

There is a chance the Costco project will come before the Planning Commission for a third time in early March, said Kent Manuel, the city’s lead planner for the project..

If commissioners recommend approval, the City Council could get the project in April.

Stay tuned.

MORE BUZZ

• Former Costco site on Oasis Road is on the market, with high interest
• Why a new business aims to hit bull’s-eye in Redding
• Big move for Big Lots! in Redding. And YAKS is coming back

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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