The Buzz: ‘We know our industries are changing’ in wake of COVID-19 – Redding Record Searchlight

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As the local economy starts to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some jobs that for years we have taken for granted are probably not coming back.

This is especially true in retail — a herculean economic and jobs driver in Redding.

• Pier 1 Imports, which has a location in Redding, has started its going out of business sale.
• The YAKS coffee shop, which celebrated its return to Redding in January, has closed. A sign on the front door says it all: “Picked the wrong year to open a business. We will try again later.”
• Both J.C. Penney and Tuesday Morning have announced their first round of store closures. The Redding locations are safe for now. The J.C. Penney in Yreka wasn’t so lucky.
• Cinemark Movies 8 (more on that later in the column) has closed after 30 years in Redding. The company said the closure is not coronavirus related. Still, how optimistic was Cinemark about that aging multiplex post pandemic?

And that’s just a sampling.

Sonoma State Economist Robert Eyler has said that cities will need to get creative when it comes to the future of retail.

“We know that retail is going to contract. How much it contracts might lead to some opportunities, believe it or not,” Eyler said during one of his “Ask the Economist” webinars he’s been holding since the pandemic shutdown started. “Can we use our malls in different ways’’ to maybe help small manufacturers?

Meanwhile, people are getting back to work. The Labor Department reported Friday that there were an estimated 2.5 million more people working in May than in April as restaurant employees and others returned to work.

May numbers for Shasta County have not been released. The county’s jobless rate in April was 15.9%.

Locally, the SMART Business Resource Center has received funding to hire people to work COVID-19 recovery jobs.

In addition to Shasta County, SMART now covers Siskiyou County, where it will soon open a location, Executive Director Wendy Zanotelli said. SMART also covers Trinity, Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

There are about 50 COVID-19 recovery jobs available in Shasta and Trinity counties.

SMART can hire people to work for municipalities, nonprofits and private companies, doing cleanup, food delivery and taking calls for the United Way’s 211 line that connects residents with local resources.

Even though the jobs are temporary, Zanotelli said in some instances they can lead to a permanent gig.

“Once people get their foot in the door, they are often picked up by the employer,” Zanotelli said.

Coronavirus updates:  California to allow bars, gyms, schools to reopen

Zanotelli said SMART is eligible to get more funding once it spends this first round. So far, the organization has received $637,275 for COVID-19 work in Shasta and Trinity counties. SMART also got $76,500 for supportive services, such as rent, utilities, transportation and work clothes, for these workers.

The money comes in the wake of funding SMART got to hire people to do recovery work related to the Carr Fire in July 2018 and the historic snowstorm in February 2019. Forty-nine people have been hired in Shasta and Trinity counties and there are 37 jobs still available.

In addition, SMART has helped 445 people get training, education and/or jobs through its traditional programs this year, Zanotelli said, adding that there have been over 1,000 visits to its job centers to create resumes and use other services.

Zanotelli said the hope is the economy makes a sharp comeback and doesn’t sag for months or years after the pandemic.

“We know our industries are changing and some of the jobs available here now are not going to be here, but some new ones will be emerging,” she said.

For more information on jobs available, go to thesmartcenter.biz and click on the “job seekers” link, call 246-7911 or email [email protected].

Starbucks coming to new shopping center

Save Mart is new.

But the other retailers and restaurants that have opened in Churn Creek MarketPlace, or have announced they will be opening, already have locations in Redding.

In April, construction started on a new Starbucks that will occupy a multi-suite building in the shopping center. Starbucks already has five locations in Redding, which doesn’t include its coffee shops in Safeway and Barnes & Noble.

The coffee giant will join Panda Express, In-N-Out Burger and ARCO, all of which have opened. The Ross Dress For Less store, like Save Mart, is under construction.

Work on Les Schwab Tire Center is expected to start later this year.

There is plenty more space to be filled in Churn Creek MarketPlace, so maybe there are new retail and food options to come.

“We are working with several tenants for the remainder of the multi-tenant building (where Starbucks is going) but don’t have them nailed down quite yet,” center owner Scot Patterson of California Gold Development wrote in an email.

Stay tuned.

Redding’s original Cinemark no more

The inside of Movies 8 on Park Marina Circle has been gutted. The concession counters are gone, exposing water pipes that jut from the wall.

After 30 years, Cinemark’s first multiplex in Redding has closed. The company also operates Movies 14 on Old Alturas Road, which has been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A company spokeswoman said in an email that Cinemark has closed as its lease on the Park Marina Circle building is about to expire. According to Shasta County property records, JSMN Cinema LLC of Paramus, New Jersey, purchased the property in 2010.

“This closure is normal course of business and the result of the careful and ongoing review of our theatre fleet,” Cinemark said in a statement.

READ MORE BUZZ:

• Pandemic helps boost cannabis sales by 25% for at least one Redding store
• This long-vacant building is ready to welcome Kansas City BBQ
• Pandemic creates bumpy skies for rural commercial air service

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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